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Ministers to discuss pay to avert nursing strike

Jayne McCormackBBC News NI political correspondent

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Getty Images The torso of a nurse, wearing blue scrubs, with his arms crossed. He is standing in a hospital corridor. Getty Images

Money for nurses’ pay requires support from other executive ministers

A long-awaited pay award for healthcare workers in Northern Ireland will be discussed by executive ministers later on Thursday in the hope of avoiding strike action this winter.

In May, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt signed off £200m to go towards this year’s pay deal, but finding the money for it requires support from other executive ministers.

The delay prompted the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Northern Ireland to begin the process of balloting members for strike action.

Health pay is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.

In recent years, health workers have engaged in strike action over failure to implement the annual pay award in line with other parts of the UK.

The RCN had called on the Northern Ireland Executive to act immediately and to avoid plunging the health service into further disruption.

PA Media Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, pictured from the shoulders up, wearing a grey suit, blue shirt and grey tie. He is also wearing glasses and has short grey hair. PA Media

In May, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt signed off £200m to go towards this year’s pay deal

The health minister has been working with Finance Minister John O’Dowd to find ways to secure the uplift.

O’Dowd, a Sinn Féin minister, accused the UK government of “failing to provide sufficient funding for public services”.

Ministers will meet on Thursday morning in a bid to reach agreement on a funding plan for the pay awards.

Nesbitt had previously warned that nurses could be “on the streets by mid-November” taking strike action unless a solution was found.


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