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Reports of no post-Covid NHS pay rise a ‘kick in the teeth’ for medics

RISHI SUNAK’s reported plans to deny NHS staff a pay rise in Wednesday’s Budget have been branded a “kick in the teeth.”

The Chancellor is awaiting the NHS Pay Review Body’s report in May before deciding on pay rises, the i newspaper reported, citing senior Treasury sources.

Unison head of health Sara Gorton said that the government has had “ample opportunity” to decide an “early and significant” pay rise for staff who have worked during the Covid-19 crisis.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth and the party’s deputy leader Angela Rayner both said that it would be “a kick in the teeth” if Mr Sunak fails to announce a pay rise for NHS and social-care workers.

Ms Rayner said Mr Sunak and Prime Mister Boris Johnson “fell over themselves to clap for our carers for a photo opportunity” during the coronavirus lockdowns.

Nurses and junior doctors were excluded from a pay rise of up to 3.1 per cent announced last year for about 900,000 public-sector workers.

In 2018, nurses agreed to a separate three-year pay offer and junior doctors accepted a four-year deal in 2019.

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