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Health service staff in Northern Ireland will receive pay parity with NHS staff in the rest of the UK and back pay, it has been announced. Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said pay parity will be restored with the percentage uplifts as recommended by pay review bodies, dated back in full to April 1, 2025. It comes as nurses have been warning of imminent strike action if a 3.6% increase recommended by the independent Pay Review Body was not met. The Minister said he is committed to ensuring the "issue of late payment of pay awards will never happen again", and will ensure future pay awards are prioritised in budget allocation. In a statement, the Health Minister said: “The Executive has today given me approval to deliver pay parity for health service staff, which was our original intention and what unions and professional bodies have been asking for and is their right. “This would restore pay parity with the percentage uplifts as recommended by pay review bodies being back dated in full to 1 April 2025. I would expect our HSC workforce to receive their uplift and back pay in their February 2026 pay packets. “In addition, and to ensure that issue of late payment of pay awards will never happen again, I can confirm that as Health Minister I am committed to ensuring future pay awards are prioritised in my budget allocation at the start of the financial year and adjusted as necessary to ensure parity.” On October 18, the First Minister said she hoped a resolution to the nurses' pay dispute would come "within days." Michelle O'Neill made the prediction as she was asked to provide clarity on the situation after differing messages emerged after an Executive meeting at Stormont Castle. During the meeting ministers agreed to allocate £150 million to departments facing shortfalls on public sector pay demands. The largest allocation was £100 million to Health Minister Mike Nesbitt who had asked for £200 million to enable him to deliver a recommended raise for healthcare workers. Dr Alan Stout, British Medical Association NI Council chair, said: “We welcome today’s news that the Minister and Executive have finally approved the overdue pay uplift for doctors in Northern Ireland. "It is hugely disappointing that it has taken so long to resolve this and we sincerely hope lessons have indeed been learnt and pay will be prioritised in next year’s budgeting process. The goodwill of doctors has been stretched to breaking point.” Professor Rita Devlin, Executive Director of the RCN in Northern Ireland welcomed the news. She said: “This has been a long and protracted process to get to this stage, and we welcome the confirmation that pay parity will be reinstated for hard working health care staff. “The Royal College of Nursing has consistently maintained that the loss of pay parity with colleagues across the UK was wholly unacceptable. Our members have expressed deep frustration over this issue, and we welcome the Minister’s commitment to ensuring the late payment of pay awards will never happen again. “We will now examine the proposal in further detail and take it to the RCN Northern Ireland Board for discussion.” For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our politics newsletter here.
