NHS and government reach final pay deal hoped to end bitter row

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

NHS staff in England have been offered a five per cent pay rise from April as the government and union officials have completed negotiations and come to a final offer.

The deal will affect more than one million NHS staff, including nurses and ambulance workers. The government and the NHS Staff Council – representing nurses, ambulance staff and other NHS workers – have completed negotiations and reached a final offer, a government spokesman has said.

Further strikes by ambulance staff and other NHS workers have been called off and unions will recommend acceptance of a new pay offer to NHS workers, they have announced.

Staff have also been offered a one-off payment of at least £1,655 to top up the past year's pay award. The offer covers all NHS staff except doctors who are on a different contract, raising hopes that there has been a promising breakthrough in the long-burning issue of pay for hundreds of thousands of workers. READ MORE: More than a dozen GP surgeries in Greater Manc hester are 'inadequate' or 'require improvement' - see if yours is on the list At the start of the enduring pay row, unions had been asking for a 19.2 per cent rise, which the Prime Minister called "unaffordable".