NHS nurses get £1,400 pay rise - but it's a 'massive nationwide cut' as inflation soars

Tonight unions blasted a paltry NHS wage well below inflation as a 'massive national cut'.

NHS nurses will get an extra £1,400, but it will be far less than the price spike, and for many it will be as low as 4%.

The TUC said the real life pay of hospital porters would fall by £200 this year, while nurses would fall by £1,100 and paramedics by £1,500.

A review body says more than a million workers are set to get a permanent cash boost of £1,400 retroactive to April 2022, instead of the usual percentage increase across all domains.

This means that the percentage increase varies wildly depending on what you earn.

While the government has claimed it could rise to 9.3% for porters and cleaners - 7.4% excluding a top-up that has already taken place - the average base salary for nurses will rise by around 4% from around £35,600 to around £37,000.

This is well below the current RPI inflation level of 11.7%. The government's preferred CPI measure for inflation stands at 9.1% and unions will now vote on possible industrial action.

UNISON's Sara Gorton said: 'This is far from what it takes to save the NHS.'

She said "demoralized and exhausted health workers" will "seriously consider industrial action after this pitiful increase and a ."

NHS staff march through central London in a protest demanding a 15% pay rise from last year (

Picture:

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said it was "a kick in the teeth", adding: "The so-called wage offer amounts to a massive national wage cut.

"We expected the inevitable betrayal, but its magnitude is an affront."

Even the meager increase in NHS wages could lead to cuts - as sources have confirmed to the Mirror, there will be no additional money from the Treasury.

The Ministry of Health has admitted that it is “reprioritizing within existing departmental funding while minimizing the impact on frontline services”.

And the Health Foundation has warned that failure to fund the pay rise with new money could create a black hole in stretched budgets.

Anita Charlesworth of the Health Foundation, said: "Something has to give. The very difficult trade-offs the NHS already faces will only be exacerbated by the lack of government funding to meet the cost of this wage reward. A further cut to the NHS budget is likely to impact patient care and staff working conditions, in turn affecting morale and retention."

The bulk of the NHS workforce, including nurses, paramedics, midwives, porters and administrative staff, will get a 4% raise worth $200,000. at least £1400 before inflation wipes it out.