Scottish Government Makes Another Revised Pay Offer To NHS Staff

25th November 2022

RCN Scotland Board members will, in the coming days, be considering the details of a revised NHS pay offer from Scottish government.

The pay offer was made on 24 November 2022 following negotiations between the RCN and other health trade unions and the Scottish government.

The RCN paused a formal announcement on strike action in Scotland while negotiations took place this week.

Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Director, said, "As always it is our members who will decide what happens next in relation to the pay offer. The first step in that process is for our board to review the detail of the offer. That will happen in the next few days. The revised offer still does not meet our members' expectations, which is disappointing, but the Scottish government is saying this is their best offer. We will update members once that process has taken place.

"I appreciate it may be frustrating for our members in Scotland, the majority of whom voted very strongly in favour of taking strike action. It was that mandate that encouraged the Scottish government to re-open negotiations. It is right that RCN Scotland Board members consider the offer in the usual way."

The Scottish Government Announcement
Average uplift of 7.5% the highest offer in the UK.

A ‘best and final offer' has been made to NHS Agenda for Change (AfC) workers following pay negotiations with trade unions and employers.

The record high pay offer, the best in the UK, will ensure that these front line workers will receive pay rises ranging from £2,205 to £2,751, which is a further improvement on the existing offer for staff in Bands 5-8A. For the lowest paid this represents an uplift of 11.3%, and delivers an average uplift of 7.5%.

This increased offer was made after constructive negotiations between the Scottish Government and NHS unions. In a final offer made to trade unions, the new deal is worth an additional £515 million in 2022-23 and now includes a package of progressive measures to promote staff and patient safety, support long-term workforce sustainability and to recognise the breadth of skills and experience of NHS Scotland staff.

The settlement ensures that NHS staff would remain the best paid anywhere in the UK. It gives all frontline NHS Scotland AfC staff in bands 1-7 a pay premium of between £1,149 and £2,834 over their counterparts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Agenda for Change pay offer for 2022-23 will deliver the most progressive package of terms and conditions reform in over 40 years. The deal will benefit more than 160,000 employees including nurses, paramedics, allied health professionals and healthcare support staff.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said:

"We have engaged tirelessly with trade union representatives over recent weeks, leaving no stone unturned to reach an offer which responds to the key concerns of staff across the service.

"This best and final pay offer of over half a billion pounds underlines our commitment to supporting our fantastic NHS staff. A newly qualified nurse would see a pay rise of 8.7%, and experienced nurses and would get uplifts of between £2,450 and £2,751.

"We are making this offer at a time of extraordinary financial challenges to the Scottish Government.

"We have made the best offer possible to get money into the pockets of hard working staff and to avoid industrial action, in what is already going to be an incredibly challenging winter. If the offer is agreed this pay uplift will also be backdated to April.

“Finally, I would urge the UK Government to get back to the negotiating table with the unions. This settlement has been shaped by the unions' constructive approach and I hope it is backed by their members."

The new offer also includes a review into reducing the working week to 36 hours, a commitment to review the job descriptions of Band 5 roles and ensuring protected learning time for specific groups, such as staff on agreed learning and development schemes.

Read the full detailed offer HERE Pdf to download

The strikes are still looking to go ahead in England and Wales unless an offer is made that the RCN can put to members.