NATIONAL: NHS workers could get 6.5 per cent pay rise over three years

Leaders of unions representing more than a million workers including nurses, midwives, ambulance drivers, porters and other staff will meet employers today to finalise the increase.

Workers will have to be consulted but it is expected they will receive higher pay from July, backdated to April.

The deal covers NHS workers in England at a cost of around £4bn, which is new money from the government rather than coming from existing budgets.

Money is expected to be made available for similar pay rises in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The deal will be structured to give higher rises to the lowest paid and pay bands will be changed so that workers can move more quickly through their pay grade.

NHS workers have been subject to the government’s controversial public sector pay cap for seven years, limited to an annual increase of no more than one per cent.

The cap has affected other workers including local government staff.