Unions warn NHS staff will QUIT over ‘slap in the face’ 1% pay rise

The Government has been warned that NHS staff will quit over the 1 per cent pay rise which union bosses have said will ‘horrify’ the public.

Unions and Labour said evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body from the Health Department was a ‘callous and an enormous slap in the face’ for workers and warned the pay rise will damage morale.

Meanwhile, the Government defended the figure by pointing to the freeze on pay in other public sectors and said it continues to support the NHS and its staff. 

Jon Skewes of the Royal College of Midwives said a 1 per cent pay rise would be an ‘absolute insult’ to hardworking midwives, maternity support workers and other NHS staff.

He added: ‘Our members are working harder than they have ever done to deliver safe care to women and their families in the face of longstanding staffing shortages that existed prior to the pandemic.

‘Do the Government have any idea what a pay proposal like this will do to morale? Midwives have already been eyeing the door and this will undoubtedly push many of them towards it.

(Peter Byrne/PA)

‘Our members and all NHS staff deserve a fair and decent pay rise and a meagre 1% will not cut it.’

On Wednesday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed tens of billions of pounds worth of spending in the latest budget and compared the country’s borrowing to wartime level. 

Health and social care were both notably absent from any increased funding and in its submission to the NHS Pay Review Body today, the DHSC said that any higher than  one per cent ‘would require re-prioritisation’.

It added:  ‘COVID-19 has created unavoidable direct and indirect financial impacts in the 2020-21 financial year and contributed to a challenging wider economic context.’

Unison head of health Sara Gorton said:  ‘A 1 per cent pay rise is the worst kind of insult the Government could give health workers who’ve given their absolute everything over the past year.

‘The public will be horrified. Staff will think it’s some kind of joke.’

Labour leader Sir…