Would it cost the government £700m to raise nurses' pay?

Speaking astir nurses striking implicit pay, Health Minister Maria Caulfield said that it would outgo the authorities £700m to summation wage by 1%.

Ms Caulfield made the assertion connected BBC Breakfast and Radio 4's Today programme successful narration to nurses successful England, with wellness being a devolved matter. But was it accurate?

When discussing the nurses' strike, Health Minister Maria Caulfield told presenter Nick Robinson connected Today "for each per cent we would person to enactment wage up that's £700 cardinal we would person to find".

This is not close erstwhile applied solely to the nurses' wage dispute.

It comes from an NHS Pay Review study that describes however overmuch wealth would beryllium needed to money a wage emergence for a overmuch larger radical of NHS workers successful England and not conscionable nurses.

The £700m fig comes from the NHS wage reappraisal report from July 2022.

In it, the Department of Health and Social Care said that each further 1% of wage for the "non-medical workforce" costs astir £700 cardinal per year.

The "non-medical workforce" successful the NHS includes nurses, but it covers a overmuch larger radical of workers including scientists, porters, administrative staff, physiotherapists, radiographers, ambulance unit and management.

There are astir 320,000 nurses successful England.

NHS data connected unit successful England shows that non-medical unit - excluding nurses - marque up astir 378,000 radical moving successful hospitals and communities.

So the outgo of a 1% wage emergence quoted by Ms Caulfield does not use to nurses' wage unsocial but covers much than doubly arsenic galore unit successful the NHS successful England.

In the aforesaid interview, Ms Caulfield besides said that a 1% wage emergence would outgo £800 cardinal but the Department for Health and Social Care aboriginal clarified that she misspoke.

On the wage quality with nurses, wellness and societal attraction caput Steve Barclay said that "we person accepted the recommendations of the autarkic NHS Pay Review Body successful afloat to springiness nurses a wage emergence of astatine slightest £1,400 - connected apical of a 3% wage emergence past twelvemonth erstwhile wider nationalist assemblage wage was frozen.

"Further wage increases would mean taking wealth distant from frontline services astatine a clip erstwhile we are tackling grounds waiting lists arsenic a effect of the pandemic."