NHS strikes: Wales pay rise offer ruled out by Drakeford

NHS workers in Wales will not be offered bigger increases to their wages, despite talks later this week.

First Minister Mark Drakeford spelled out his offer to avert further industrial action, including a one-off payment, on Monday.

Despite union demands, he said he was not able to give a higher pay award.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) wants a 19% pay rise and said the one-off payment was not "satisfactory" and would not halt strike action.

But ministers have said that is unaffordable and the Welsh government has written to trade unions inviting them to meet and negotiate.

Helen Whyley, director of the RCN in Wales, welcomed the offer but said "the devil will be in the detail".

The GMB, which represents about a quarter of Welsh Ambulance Service staff, said a payment would not be enough to avert its strike planned for Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the first minister acknowledged parts of the NHS had been in "crisis" in recent weeks, and apologised to staff and patients.

But he said it was "not a perpetual crisis as some people would suggest".

Mr Drakeford's press conference on Monday comes after Welsh ambulance workers announced new dates for strikes later this month and the nursing union saying it had not ruled out further action.

The Welsh government has offered NHS staff a pay rise of between 4% and 5.5%, but the RCN has called for an increase in line with inflation.

Talks between the Welsh government and the health unions are expected to begin on Thursday.

The RCN's associate director, Nicky Hughes, told BBC Radio Wales that a one-off payment was "a no-go unless it's substantive", adding: "It does not address the 10 years of poor pay rises and the fact that nurses' pay is now 20% less than it should be in relation to inflation."

Mr Drakeford refused to be drawn on details of the one-off payment, only saying there were three elements in his offer to avert further industrial action, including:

Later on Monday, Wales' Health Minister Eluned Morgan said the cash offer would "not be insignificant", but would not be drawn on whether all staff would get the same payment, saying it would be "open to negotiation".

Mr Drakeford said the amount of money on the table for pay rises was linked to pay awards in England that triggered extra money for Wales.

"That is why when we meet our trade union colleagues later this week I'm not in a position to offer them a higher pay award", he said.

The first minister said money for the one-off payment was found from the Welsh government's own funds, and reports of the UK government considering a pay-out to nurses in England were "entirely coincidental".

The 27 December was "probably" the busiest in the history of the NHS, Mark Drakeford said, and hospital staff would have felt "that they were dealing with a crisis".

Amid reports of more money for social care beds in England, he said there was "money in the system" for additional care home beds, including 508 additional beds this winter.

He rejected the idea of field hospitals, saying staffing was a "real challenge".

Ms Whyley said: "I want to hear a Welsh government who are committed to sorting out the problems of Welsh nurses in Welsh hospitals looking after Welsh people and that means fair pay for those people and an approach that will give them a career across the whole of the time they are nursing in Wales."

After unprecedented demand on hospitals, the Welsh government advised senior NHS staff to discharge people who are well enough to leave hospital, even if arrangements to care for them at home have not been finalised, in order to ease pressure.

Ms Whyley said she was unsure on the details surrounding the offer, such as knowing which health workers would receive the payment or how much that would be, but "we want to get round the table to see what that might look like".

Rhun ap Iorwerth, Plaid Cymru health spokesman, said it was positive the government was showing willing to come to the table and negotiate, but said the one-off payment "simply doesn't cut it".

He told BBC Wales: "We are looking here at a situation where pay for our hardworking nurses has been cut in real terms over many years. That needs to be addressed on a permanent basis, not on a one-off.

"There's been a totally unacceptable delay in an attempt to try to resolve this situation."

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said the pay offer was "long overdue recognition that decisions over NHS pay is the responsibility of Labour ministers in Cardiff Bay".

"It should not have taken this long to get to this point with nurses, ambulance workers and midwives all voting to take industrial action in Wales," he added.