Unions tonight blasted a paltry NHS pay award well below inflation as a "massive national cut".
NHS nurses will be given an extra £1,400 - but it will be far less than soaring prices, and for many is as low as 4%.
The TUC said hospital porters’ real-terms pay will be down by £200 this year while nurses fall by £1,100 and paramedics by £1,500.
A review body said more than a million staff should get a £1,400 permanent cash rise backdated to April 2022, instead of the usual percentage rise across the board.
That means the percentage rise varies massively depending what you earn.
While the government claimed it could be as high as 9.3% for porters and cleaners - 7.4% excluding a top-up that's already happened - the average basic pay for nurses will rise by around 4%, from around £35,600 to around £37,000.
That is well below the current level of RPI inflation of 11.7%. The Government’s preferred CPI measure of inflation stands at 9.1% and unions will now ballot over possible industrial action.
UNISON’s Sara Gorton said: “This is nowhere near what’s needed to save the NHS.”
She said “demoralised and depleted health workers” will be “seriously considering industrial action after this pitiful increase and a majority of the public will be behind them.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said it was “a kick in the teeth” adding: “The so-called wage offer amounts to a massive national pay cut.
“We expected the inevitable betrayal but the scale of it is an affront."
Even the measly NHS pay rise could lead to cuts - as sources confirmed to the Mirror there will be no extra money from the Treasury.
The Department of Health admitted it is “reprioritising within existing Departmental funding whilst minimising the impact on front line services.”
And the Health Foundation warned failing to fund the pay rise with new money could create a black hole in stretched budgets.
Anita Charlesworth of the Health Foundation, said: "Something has got to give. The very difficult trade-offs that the NHS is already facing will only be exacerbated by the lack of any government funding to cover the cost of this pay award. A further squeeze on the NHS budget is likely to impact patient care and staff working conditions, in turn affecting morale and retention."
The bulk of the NHS workforce, including nurses, paramedics, midwives, porters and admin staff, will get a 4% rise worth at least £1,400 before inflation wipes it out.
UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The government has made a big mistake. This short-sighted decision risks harming the UK's most cherished institution beyond repair.”
She warned: “Fed-up staff might well now decide to take the matter into their own hands. If there is to be a dispute in the NHS, ministers will have no one to blame but themselves.”
The basic pay for newly qualified nurses will increase by 5.5%, from £25,655 last year to £27,055, the government said.
The government said they will be “the highest uplifts in nearly twenty years, reflecting the vital contributions public sector workers make to the country and the cost of living pressures facing households.”
But inflation is running at its highest in about 40 years at 9.1% - meaning the rises are a real-terms pay cut.
The rise covers Agenda for Change staff including nurses, paramedics, midwives, allied health professionals, admin, and porters.
The £1,400 flat cash rise will be “enhanced” for the top of Band 6 and Band 7 so it is equal to a 4% rise.
Eligible dentists and doctors, who are employed under a separate contract, have been awarded 4.5%.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: “This Government hugely values and appreciates the dedication and contribution of NHS staff which is why we will give over one million NHS workers a pay rise of £1,400 this year, on top of the 3% they received last year when pay rises were temporarily paused in the wider public sector.
“We asked the independent pay review bodies for their recommendations and I am pleased to accept them in full.
“We want a fair deal for staff. Very high inflation-driven settlements would have a worse impact on pay packets in the long run than proportionate and balanced increases now, and it is welcome that the pay review bodies agree with this approach.”
NHS bosses warn the pay rises will require £1.8 billion of cuts after receiving funding for a 3% rise.
It is expected to mean cuts to services or staff numbers and will hit efforts to clear record NHS backlogs.
The exhausted workforce is currently facing record staffing shortages linked to a historic collapse in NHS waiting times.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said:: “Given that we have the highest waiting lists in NHS history, we have got record waits for ambulances, people are finding it impossible to book a GP appointment, there are 400,000 delayed discharges each month because there isn’t the support there in social care, and the Government finally acknowledges that Covid is a challenge, the hot weather is still a challenge, but they don’t want to talk about their record, which is I am afraid at the heart of the challenge.
“Does the Secretary of State really believe that it is reasonable to expect NHS employers to meet the pay rise for NHS staff from within existing budgets?”
Health Secretary Steve Barclay replied: “As I say, we will respond to the pay review body shortly and that obviously, as part of its independent recommendations, weighs up the pressures on the cost of living and the other factors within their remit.”
The press release announcing the pay award said: “The government is committed to living within its means and delivering value for the taxpayer.
“Therefore we are reprioritising within existing departmental funding whilst minimising the impact on front line services.”
NHS bosses warned that as the pay award is not fully funded from Government they will have to cut services.
Danny Mortimer, employment lead at NHS Confederation, said: “We welcome an increase in pay for hardworking and overstretched NHS staff beyond the 3% uplift originally budgeted for.
“However NHS and public health leaders cannot be put into the impossible position of having to choose which services they will cut back on in order to fund the additional rise.
“NHS employers have only been allocated enough money to award staff a 3% rise, so unless the extra increase is funded by the Treasury, very worryingly, this will have to be drawn from existing budgets and will mean an estimated unplanned £1.8 billion shortfall.
“With the NHS already carrying 105,000 vacancies, if the Government truly intends to support the NHS as it recovers from the pandemic and as it continues to tackle huge waiting lists, then it must reconsider and commit to fully covering these much needed pay rises for staff.”
It comes hours after official figures showed Brits’ real wages have plummeted by the worst rate on record as the cost-of-living crisis hammers the nation.
Regular pay, without bonuses, grew 4.3% in the year to March-May 2022. But once adjusted for soaring inflation, regular pay fell by 2.8% - the steepest drop since records began in 2000.
It inched past the previous record fall of 2.7% in September 2011 - and the worst is yet to come.
CPI inflation hit a 40-year record of 9.1% in May and is expected to reach as high as 11% later this year.
Below-inflation pay rises will be announced today for more than 2.2million public sector workers - including NHS staff, doctors and dentists, school teachers, police officers, prison officers and the Armed Forces.
And Tory leadership candidates have all rebuffed calls for higher pay rises, with Liz Truss warning they would lead to a “wage-price spiral” that made inflation worse.
Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of Learning and Work Institute, said: “The cost of living crisis is laid bare.”
He added: “With energy bills set to rocket further in the autumn, this must be top of the new Prime Minister’s in-tray.
“But the crisis is being felt unevenly with larger pay rises in sectors like finance, up 6.2%, while the public sector saw the lowest pay rises, at 1.9% - much lower than inflation.
“This highlights the need for action to tackle recruitment and retention challenges in our public services.”
