LONDON – Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has said he is optimistic about reaching a pay deal with health unions as soon as Thursday to avert further strikes by nurses and ambulance workers.
Unions representing nurses, ambulance workers, midwives and physiotherapists have been locked in talks with the government for over a week, with ministers agreeing to discuss a one-time payment for the current financial year, as well as a pay rise for the next one, which starts in April.under months of damaging strikes in the National Health Service – primarily over pay – which have seen close to 150,000 appointments cancelled so far, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Mr Hunt has said any pay rises must be carefully managed to avoid adding to inflation, which rose by 10.1 per cent in the 12 months to January. Any agreement would be a major boost for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government after months of industrial action across the NHS, schools and railways, ahead of a general election expected in 2024.The government has said a call for a 35 per cent pay rise from the British Medical Association, which represents doctors, is unaffordable.