HEALTH union Unison called on the government today to open talks on NHS pay as pressure on the service mounts during the winter health crisis.

After taking power in July, Labour accepted the NHS pay review body recommendation of a 5.5 per cent wage rise and announced that it would commit to modernising the Agenda for Change,which sets out staff pay bands.

But in December, ministers announced that NHS pay rises for 2025-26 would be limited to 2.8 per cent.

Unison said that the government had also handed responsibility for assessing ways to improve the Agenda for Change to the pay review body, delaying the process until at least May.

In November, Unison, the Royal College of Nursing and Unite wrote to Health Secretary Wes Streeting urging him to bypass the NHS pay review body and hold direct talks with the unions on salary structure reform and wage rises. 

Unison is now encouraging workers to write to their MP with a demand for Mr Streeting to immediately convene talks between unions and NHS employers, arguing that sorting out pay is vital to improving staff morale, retaining expertise and tackling waiting lists. 

Helga Pile, the union’s head of health, said: “In the summer, ministers promised to open negotiations with unions and sort out the NHS pay structure. 

“That hasn’t happened and frustrated NHS staff who’d pinned their hopes on talks are now asking their local MP to give the health secretary a nudge.

“The pay review body process is from a bygone era and should be axed.

“A modern NHS needs 21st-century pay practices to keep and recruit the staff required to deal with the multiple crises it currently faces.”