Stormont Health Minister orders pay increase despite not having the budget

Stormont Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said he has signed a pay increase for workers, despite not having the budget to cover it.

He said the salary increase recommended totalled around £200 million in Northern Ireland, including 3.6% for nurses and staff under Agenda for Change, 4% for doctors, and 4% plus £750 for resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors.

It comes after recommendations were announced earlier by pay review bodies, including 3.6% for health workers and 4% for doctors.

Mr Nesbitt said he expects to have to issue a ministerial directive, which will go to the Finance Minister, John O’Dowd, and potentially be passed to the Executive for approval.

Speaking to media at the Department of Health headquarters in Belfast on Thursday afternoon, Mr Nesbitt said he was very unhappy last year when health workers had to wait until the end of the financial year for confirmation that they were going to get their pay parity recommendation implemented.

“I said I wanted it to be the last time and I’m determined it is the last time,” he said.

“I’ve also said on numerous occasions, all things being equal, as soon as this year’s awards are made public, I would want to action them in full and that’s what I’ve been done, I’ve just signed this, and will be taking it to the permanent secretary upstairs as soon as we are finished, and that will start a process, and where that goes I cannot be sure.

“I think inevitably the permanent secretary will have to say to me, ‘you cannot afford to do this, so you will have to give me a ministerial direction’.

“That, to be clear, is not an event, it’s part of a process. That ministerial direction is likely to go to a finance minister who may choose to implement it, or pass it on to the Executive for final decision.”

He added: “I want to pay the workers because the workforce keeps the health service running – you need buildings, you need beds, you need equipment, you need medicine. All that is as nothing if you don’t have the workforce.

“I am doing what I think is right, which is to honour the pay parity agreements.”

Dr Alan Stout, chair of the BMA’s Northern Ireland council, said the 4% “does not sufficiently address the years of pay erosion”, adding that it will be “deeply disappointing for doctors right across Northern Ireland”.

“While we welcome the news that the minister intends to pay this in full, his comments are some cause for concern in terms of the time it may take to get a final decision on making the award, delaying again the actual uplift for members,” he said.

“For too long, doctors have faced significant pay erosion, combined with working in a failing health system where their jobs have become more complex and pressured.

“This has had a hugely demoralising effect on doctors and has led to doctors choosing to leave the health service or to reduce their contracted hours.

“It is imperative that pay keeps pace with the rates offered elsewhere, particularly in the Republic of Ireland, so that we can retain doctors in our health system and recruit doctors from elsewhere.

“Our health service is hanging by a thread and is running on the goodwill of individuals.

“Each branch of practice will now consult with their committee and members to decide on their next steps.”