Ulster Unionist Health Spokesperson Alan Chambers MLA has warned that in order to avoid any further strife from staff and disruption to the delivery of key health services, it’s essential the pay offer for many health workers in England is also quickly made available for staff in Northern Ireland.

Alan Chambers said:

“This latest pay offer, which includes both a pay rise and a significant one-off payment, is a hugely welcome development and would appear to represent a fair compromise by properly paying staff as well as keeping public expenditure within affordable levels.

“It’s regrettable that so many of the UK’s health workers were forced into taking strike action in the first place but I'm hopeful that this latest offer is accepted and the industrial dispute can be brought to a swift end. Ending the dispute would be hugely beneficial to patients as well as to staff.

“In the absence of a functioning Executive it’s now imperative that the Department of Health locally moves quickly to reassure health staff here that a similar offer will apply to them.

“In January 2020 the UUP took the Health portfolio and at the time we made restoring overdue pay parity between health workers here and in England an immediate action point. It’s essential therefore that this latest offer in England is also available here in order to ensure major gaps in pay are not allowed to develop once again.

"I hope the UK Government will now work closely with each of the devolved administrations in order to ensure the additional finances are made available to deliver these awards."