Unions call off strikes by NHS staff including those at QA Hospital as government offers new pay deal

The breakthrough follows days of talks with the Government over the long-running dispute over pay which has led to a series of walkouts by nurses, ambulance crews, paramedics, hospital porters and other health workers in recent months.

Ambulance members of Unison and Unite were due to strike next Monday and physiotherapists were going to walkout later this month but the action has been called off.

Staff from Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust South Central Ambulance Services and Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust had taken part in strikes on numerous days during December, january, February and earlier this month.

Unison said the offer to NHS workers in England includes an additional one-off lump sum for 2022-23 that rises in value up the NHS pay bands. This is worth £1,655 for staff at the bottom of band two through to £3,789 for staff at the top of band nine. There will be a permanent 5 per cent pay rise on all pay points for 2023-24.

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There will be further discussions between DHSC and the Treasury over how it will be funded.

Union members will now vote on whether to accept the deal.

Unison’s head of health Sara Gorton said: ‘It’s a shame it took so long to get here. Health workers had to take many days of strike action, and thousands more had to threaten to join them, to get their unions into the room and proper talks underway.’

Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said the government has gone from refusing to talk about pay this year to putting an extra £2.5bn on the table. She said: ‘GMB members should rightly be proud of themselves. It’s been a tough road but they have faced down the Department of Health and won an offer that we feel is the best that can be achieved at this stage through negotiation.’

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary Pat Cullen said: ‘The government was forced into these negotiations and to reopen the pay award as a result of the historic pressure from nursing staff.’

Health secretary Steve Barclay said: ‘We have listened to the concerns of the trade unions, we’ve had meaningful discussions with them. Both sides have engaged constructively.’