Health secretary ‘optimistic’ that a deal will be reached as unions and employers in the NHS meet for a crucial strike discussion. NHS meet for a crucial strike discussion.

NHS employees will move closer to receiving a 5% pay increase if the NHS Staff Council votes to accept the government’s offer.

The long-running pay issue, which has resulted in repeated strikes, is anticipated to be resolved as a result of a major meeting between unions and NHS employers.

The NHS Staff Council will consider the government’s offer of a 5% pay raise and cash payment for the previous year after hearing reports from the unions today.

Following a recent balloting of hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unite members on Monday rejected the offer, while Unison and GMB members accepted it.

The government’s efforts to implement the wage increase for all health workers covered by the accord, including members of the RCN and Unite, would advance significantly if the health department approved the proposal today.

It occurs on the same day as English National Education Union (NEU) members will go on a 24-hour strik e as part of an ongoing pay dispute.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said on Monday that he was “cautiously optimistic” that the council will vote in favour of the deal, but the RCN is already pressing ahead with a fresh ballot – regardless of the council’s decision.

“We will continue to lose a day’s pay standing on picket lines for our patients so that’s how important it is to them and they want to have their voice heard,” said Pat Cullen, RCN general secretary

“How are they going to have their voice heard and have this brought to a conclusion without the Secretary of State getting into a room and starting to negotiate again with me.”

If the government does not address the nursing shortage, she cautioned, members may be forced onto picket lines all the way up until Christmas.

Unite members from the South Central, South East Coast, and West Midlands ambulance trusts will participate in industrial action, as will employees from the Christies NHS Foundation Trust, Christies Pathology Partnership, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, and Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust.

The government’s plan, according to Onay Kasab, national officer for Unite, does not sufficiently address the “massive problems facing the NHS due to overworked and underpaid workers.”

In order to prevent further classroom closures that require parents to keep their kids at home, the government is also being pushed to undertake new negotiations with the NEU.

Today, employees of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), including those who work in inspection teams, phone centers, and data analysis, as well as members of Unison, Unite, and the Public and Commercial Services union, will also strike.

Members decided to strike after receiving a pay raise ranging from 2.75 to 3.5% and a one-time payout of £100 or £150 in December, depending on their salary, which leaders claimed did not “reflect its essential work.”