A pay rise announced for Welsh NHS staff has been described as "pitiful and insulting" by leading unions. On Friday afternoon Health Minister Eluned Morgan confirmed that all NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts - including nurses, cleaners, porters, healthcare support workers and healthcare professionals - will get a £1,400 pay rise on most pay grades.
She added that the Welsh Government will implement this recommendation on top of the real living wage top-up previously announced which came into effect in April. For the lowest paid staff (bands 1 to 4), which make up nearly half of the Agenda for Change workforce, this will on average equate to a 7.5% pay rise on pay grades.
Meanwhile the health minister has also agreed the recommendations of the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body (DDRB) to increase pay by 4.5% for junior doctors, consultants, GPs and dentists employed directly by health boards. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said this week that UK inflation, the rate at which prices rise, currently stands at 9.4% and is predicted to reach 11% by the autumn.
