Government announces their response to the NHS Pay Review Body Report
(19/03/13) The Government has published the 27th report of the NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB) and accepted the recommendations which include a 1% uplift to all Agenda for Change pay points and to the minima and maxima of the High Cost Area Supplement.
The report follows a full evidence round in which UNISON highlighted the impact of successive years of pay restraint on NHS staff and the risks to service quality posed by increased pressure, lower staffing levels and subsequent drop in morale. NHS Employers argued strongly that any uplift to pay was unnecessary and unaffordable. The executive summary of the key recommendations are below for your information and a full copy of the report can be read here: http://www.ome.uk.com/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleUid=36c6cde1-a422-42bb-bc5a-28e4b368f152
As with usual pay uplifts, the Departments of Health in each of the countries will issue the new pay rates to the service, instructing employers to make the new rates payable from 1 April. This does not mean that UNISON ‘accepts’ the pay rates! The new rates will be payable from the 1 April, but UNISON will need to determine if there is appetite among the membership and branches to effectively challenge the Government’s NHS pay policy, by mounting a formal dispute over the coming months. Details of how we will consult branches on this are being worked out and will be sent to you shortly.
NHS PRB Executive Summary 
Acrobat PDF (200432 bytes)
