Health Pay Awards Confirmed By Dept Of Health

The Department of Health (DoH) has announced that it is now able to award the health service national pay body recommendations for 2022/23.

The DoH said that this is now possible following three key developments:

• the announcement of a budget for Northern Ireland;

• the passage of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Bill;

• and publication today of public sector pay guidance for 2022/23 by the Department of Finance.

The Department will now be implementing in full the pay recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body which covers Agenda for Change staff and the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body which covers salaried Doctors and Dentists.

A Departmental spokesperson said: "The Department shares the frustration of all our HSC colleagues in the delays in implementing the pay recommendations for 2022/23. While the former Minister had accepted the recommendations in full, the lack of a public sector pay policy and budgetary uncertainty prevented any further progress. These hurdles have now been cleared for this year and the Department will now move to implement these pay awards as a matter of urgency to ensure colleagues see their pay increase as soon as possible."

All Agenda for Change pay points will increase by at least £1400 per annum while salaried doctors and dentists will receive an uplift of 4.5% with both pay increases back dated to 1 April 2022. Implementation of the pay award for Agenda for Change staff will ensure continuation of pay parity with colleagues in England.