NHS unions boycott powerful pay body the Tories used to push through cuts to carers

NHS unions will boycott the powerful pay body the Tories have used to force a decade of real pay cuts for carers.

The Mirror can reveal the plan as the government plans to end NHS strikes by promising an accelerated pay deal next year.

Unite is the latest major healthcare union to refuse to engage with the NHS pay review body, which has been used to settle public sector pay deals for 60 years.

The Royal College of Nursing, which represents 320,000 nursing workers, said it had started discussions about withdrawing from the process for 2023/24.

The historic collapse of the established pay review process comes after the government used the body's supposed 'independence' to justify a refusal to allow talks on NHS pay.

Secretary of Health and Social Care Steve Barclay is keen to "speed up the process" (

Picture:

Thomas Krych/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)

During the final day of the paramedics' strike, Health Secretary Steve Barclay yesterday urged workers to 'look forward' to next year's deal and said he wanted ' speed up the process".

The process of establishing wage recommendations for next year is already underway, but NHS workers usually have to wait until August to receive a backdated agreement.

However, Unite told the Mirror that he would refuse to participate or submit submissions simply stating that he was not fit for purpose.

The GMB Paramedics Union announced last week that it was suspending its participation in the process next year and would not submit evidence.

The MRC is reportedly about to make a similar announcement. He is expected to confirm new strike dates for January on Friday.