UNIONS are in disagreement over the government’s new consultation on a separate pay scale for nurses in England.

Unison and GMB called for greater NHS funding for decent pay for all staff warning the “divisive distraction” would lead to equal pay claims and pit parts of the workforce against each other.

But the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) welcomed the 12-week consultation, saying the current system “only rewards people the further away they get from patient care.”