NI health workforce continue to be punished by a bad pay deal claims Derry MLA

SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said an agreed pay deal for NHS staff in England will prove bittersweet for health workers in Northern Ireland, whose pay continues to lag far behind their counterparts across the UK.  

It follows news that unions in England have agreed to a 5% increase as well as one-off payment for nurses, ambulance workers, porters and physios. 

Health funding shortfall leaves department ‘unable to resolve pay dispute’

The Foyle MLA said: “Health staff were already paid less than their counterparts in England, Scotland and Wales- now this 5% increase across the water will see wages here slide further behind. The move could potentially compound existing staff pressures within our health service as workers opt to take more lucrative positions elsewhere. And who would blame them?  

“It's disgraceful that our health staff have been left behind at every juncture.

"Blame can’t be laid entirely on the DUP’s siege of Stormont but is a direct consequence of the £300 million overspend and years of financial mismanagement by the parties who have held the purse strings, the DUP and Sinn Féin.” 

Mr Durkan continued: “Health workers deserve real, tangible recognition of the invaluable role they continue to play amid immense pressures, pressures which existed long before the pandemic. 

“In financial terms this workforce is among the most undervalued across these islands. Regardless of the Herculean tasks put to them, our health staff have remained steadfast in their commitment to providing care and ultimately saving lives. Yet their pay does not adequately reflect the invaluable nature of their service.    

“In the last few years, health staff here have been forced to take to the picket lines to demand safe staffing levels. That is completely unacceptable.

"The SDLP has repeated calls for meaningful intervention from the Secretary of State to deliver an acceptable pay rise for our battle worn health workers.”