the health service should expect to face a \u00a3600m budget shortfall<\/a>, warning that \u201cextremely difficult and painful\u201d savings measures would be needed.<\/p>\nHe further cautioned that, by not implementing this year\u2019s pay deal, there would be \u201csubstantial risks\u201d for the health service including the threat of strikes and challenges with workforce recruitment and retention.<\/p>\n
Professor Rita Devlin, executive director of the Royal College of Nursing in Northern Ireland, told Nursing Times that all the health trade unions had met with the minister to discuss next steps.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cWhile we fully acknowledge the serious challenges facing our health service, including the current budget shortfall, it is crucial to recognise that these difficulties are not the responsibility of the dedicated staff who continue to work tirelessly throughout our health and social care system.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time as the Northern Ireland executive continue to withhold pay from nursing staff, they are expected to continue to deliver excellence in a broken system and shore up the health service with unpaid hours and their own goodwill. This is entirely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Devlin called on the executive to show \u201cclear and decisive leadership\u201d to ensure nurses and other healthcare workers were \u201cpaid fairly and equally\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cOur position has not changed: we will not accept any move away from pay parity with colleagues in England and Wales, and this pay award must be implemented without further delay.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement published by Unison Northern Ireland\u2019s health care service group last week, the union said the executive \u201cmust support the allocation of funding for a pay uplift\u201d.<\/p>\n
It said: \u201cAny delay in providing the funding necessary risks exacerbating difficulties in recruiting and retaining the workforce that services need and damaging workforce morale.<\/p>\n
\u201cA repeat of the significant delays experienced in 2024-25 in putting pay uplifts in place must be avoided,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe executive should demonstrate that it values the immense contribution made by the many thousands of Health and Social Care workers delivering essential services across Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cHealth trade unions will seek to engage with the wider executive to urge them to support funding for a pay uplift,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
The Department of Health in Northern Ireland reiterated that Mr Nesbitt was \u201cacutely aware of the pressures faced by healthcare staff\u201d and their concerns around pay.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson said: \u201cAll governments, regionally and nationally, are conscious of the benefits of minimising any delay in implementing pay awards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe minister has stated publicly that he fully welcomes the recommendations and he has issued a ministerial direction instructing immediate implementation of the pay awards for all HSC staff in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis direction is now with the executive for consideration,\u201d the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n
The Northern Ireland Executive was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n
More on pay in Northern Ireland<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nursing unions in Northern Ireland have urged their government to show \u201cclear and decisive leadership\u201d by funding the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-229356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-northern-ireland","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114778134619515789","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}