Unions representing NHS workers have finally been invited in to pay talks by ministers in a potential breakthrough aimed at averting strikes.
Unions are now in intense pre-talk discussions after the Government insisted on “preconditions” before they sit down and negotiate.
It comes a day after the GMB union changed “derogations” and said paramedics would attend only the most obviously life-threatening 999 calls during its latest England-wide strike on Monday.
The invite could be a first step to ending an unprecedented NHS industrial dispute that has seen thousands of operations cancelled during strikes.
Until now the Tories had refused to countenance an improved pay deal for 2022/23 despite a growing staff crisis in the health service and record waits for care.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “Healthcare leaders will welcome the news that the government has offered to open talks with all unions involved in the strikes.
“We have been calling for the Government time and again to open negotiations with all unions and this is a very positive step in the right direction.
“We would hope that all trade unions representing healthcare professionals across the NHS accept this olive branch from the Government and are prepared to come to the table with the aim of reaching a compromise with the government as quickly as possible.
“We need to bring an end to this war of attrition we have seen over the past few months and get back on track, continuing to tackle NHS waiting lists and treating as many patients as quickly as possible.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak broke with protocol when he initially gave Health Secretary Steve Barclay a mandate to open talks only with the Royal College of Nurses, which are still ongoing.
Normally the RCN would be part of the NHS staff council with other major NHS unions such as Unison, GMB and Unite.
Now the Government has issued a formal invite for the NHS staff council to enter pay talks.
Unions are seeking clarification as to whether the RCN will now be included in collective negotiations for all NHS staff on the main ‘Agenda for Change’ contract.
GMB, which represents the 13,000 striking 999 staff set to walk out on Monday, is likely to continue with that strike unless they are assured in the next 24 hours that there is a serious prospect of a pay offer.
Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary, said: “The Government has finally realised what we’ve been saying all along – they need to talk pay now.
“And it is no surprise this has come less than 24 hours after GMB ambulance workers announced tighter derogations.
"However the Government has set some concerning preconditions and GMB members need more clarity.
"Vague promises will not cut it ambulance workers need to know that they are going to be spoken to seriously about pay.”
Sara Gorton, who is chairwoman of the NHS staff council negotiating team and Unison's head of health, said: "Health unions will need to clarify the basis upon which talks can get under way through the NHS staff council.
"This includes understanding the status of the unilateral talks that have taken place with the RCN."
Secretary of the NHS group of unions and Chartered Society of Physiotherapy assistant director of employment relations Elaine Sparkes added: "Once the picture becomes clearer, the unions will decide what to do next."
The RCN last month said it was pausing strike action to begin "intensive talks" with the Government over "pay, terms and conditions, and productivity enhancing reforms".
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has until now insisted any improvement on the current 4% rise for 2022/23 was “unaffordable” - despite inflation running at over 10%.
However NHS bosses warned him the ongoing despite would make it impossible for them to bring down the record NHS waiting list of seven million appointments in England alone.
Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said: “This offer of substantive talks with the NHS Staff Council, which brings together trade unions and employers, and which has overseen the national contract for all non-medical staff in the NHS for the last 20 years, is very positive.
“I am hopeful that trade union colleagues are able to respond to this meaningful offer of talks with the government and we look forward to working with all parties to find a constructive way forward from this dispute and its impact on NHS teams, services and patients”.
Junior doctor strikes will go ahead, after the British Medical Association (BMA) branded separate talks on Thursday with Health Secretary Steve Barclay "just a facade".
The Government has put junior doctors on a multi-year contract lasting from 2019 to 2023, separate to the rest of the NHS workforce.
It insists over the course of this contract junior doctors will have seen a 8.2% uplift, before inflation.
So far it has insisted that the end of this contract will be the “appropriate time” to discuss pay.
However the BMA says the latest 2023 uplift is just 2% -at a time when annual inflation is currently 10.7%.
BMA co-chairs of the junior doctors' committee Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trevedi, called the Secretary of State a "professional delayer," claiming he held talks at the Department of Health on Thursday without a mandate to negotiate.
Dr Robert Laurenson said: "We came here with a mandate and he turned up without one, there was never any real prospect of any real negotiation or offer - it was just a facade."
With 11 days to go until the 72-hour walkout, Dr Laurenson said Mr Barclay did not offer any sort of time frame for negotiations.
He added: "The Government aren't taking us seriously.
"I don't understand how the Government can look at a mandate that's one of the strongest industrial mandates in history and essentially not have any preparations made or anything to put on the table."
Downing Street said unions must call off their upcoming strikes to allow pay talks to move forward.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "As with the RCN and indeed the teachers, we want to have serious discussions about pay with the unions to find a way forward. These strikes, particularly in health, in our NHS, and in teaching, are damaging to children's education, to patient safety and patient's treatment so we want to find a way forward.
"Obviously we are pleased that the RCN agreed to stop their strikes so we could have these discussions. We understand that is what other unions have said they would do and we would encourage them to do so."
Asked if the Government was assuming unions would call off their walkouts, the spokesman said: "Certainly there will be no talks if they do not agree to stop the strikes."
