PM ‘incorrect’ on claim he settled pay disputes with NHS workers, unions say
The Royal College of Nursing said Mr Sunak is ‘forgetting basic facts’ because the union’s members had rejected his pay offer and remain in dispute.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Unions have criticised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and said he is “incorrect” for claiming he has settled pay disputes with nurses, consultants and speciality doctors.
Appearing on BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Mr Sunak said the Government had reached a pay resolution with every other part of the NHS, except for junior doctors.
His comments received a backlash from unions with Royal College of Nursing (RCN) chief executive Pat Cullen saying he is “forgetting basic facts” and was wrong because the union’s members had rejected his pay offer and remain in dispute.
Meanwhile, the British Medical Association (BMA) said the Government’s pay offer for consultants and SAS doctors had been put to its members who are yet to vote on a decision.
Junior doctors in England are in the middle of a six-day strike, which is the longest walkout in the history of the health service.
On the programme, Mr Sunak said: “The Government has now reached resolution with every other part of the NHS, nurses, midwives, paramedics, consultant doctors, speciality doctors most recently.
“So every other part of the NHS workforce, and I’m grateful to them for everything they’re doing, has reached a resolution with the Government on a reasonable fair pay settlement, the only people that haven’t are the junior doctors.”
In a post to X, formerly Twitter, the BMA wrote: “The PM says consultants and SAS doctors have settled their pay disputes. This is incorrect.
“We’ve put the Government’s offer to our members and they’ll now decide.
“We’re deeply disappointed the Government hasn’t made a credible offer we can also put to junior doctors.”
RCN’s Ms Cullen said the Government needs to get its act together.
She said: “The Prime Minister is forgetting basic facts, he never reached a pay resolution with nursing staff in the NHS.
“Our members rejected his pay offer and we remain in dispute.
“The Government needs to get its act together, it must offer nursing staff a far better pay offer this year.
“Just this week, nursing staff in Northern Ireland announced they will be taking to picket lines over pay.
“Rishi Sunak’s claims about waiting lists increasing because of industrial action have been debunked, but the fact remains they have risen on his watch.
“With over 70% of the public backing strike action by nursing staff because of staffing levels, it’s clear the public support nurses continuing to fight for our NHS and our patients.”
We can get the waiting lists down when we don’t have strikes
During the programme, Mr Sunak urged medics to “come back round the table so we can get everyone back in and we can start getting the waiting lists falling”.
The waiting list for treatment in England is now at 7.8 million, with celebrities and NHS workers signing an open letter earlier this month calling for the Government to act.
Mr Sunak said: “Towards the end of last year we had a period without any strikes in the NHS, and what did we see, we saw the waiting lists fall tens of thousands, by 65,000 over the period of October.
“Waiting lists started to fall when you had a period without industrial action, so that actually gives me the confidence to know that once we can resolve the outstanding industrial action… that we will be able to see waiting lists fall because of the extra investment and resources we have put in the NHS.”
He added: “The Government has now reached resolution with every other part of the NHS: nurses, midwives, paramedics, consultant doctors, speciality doctors most recently.
“So every other part of the NHS workforce, and I’m grateful to them for everything they’re doing, has reached a resolution with the Government on a reasonable fair pay settlement, the only people that haven’t are the junior doctors.”
Mr Sunak continued: “We can get the waiting lists down when we don’t have strikes, that’s what the numbers show, that’s what everybody wants to see.
“I think that’s what the doctors would like to see too, and I would urge them to try and come back round the table so we can get everyone back in and we can start getting the waiting lists falling.”
We demand that you end your attempts to pit patients and NHS staff against each other
Earlier this week, a senior NHS leader urged the Government and the British Medical Association (BMA) to end the industrial action.
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, warned that staff morale is low across the service.
Celebrities such as presenter Stephen Fry, comedian Jo Brand, former NHS doctor and writer Adam Kay and poet Michael Rosen are calling on the Government to create an emergency plan to help those who are “getting sicker while waiting”.
The open letter signed by celebrities and NHS workers said: “We demand that you end your attempts to pit patients and NHS staff against each other.
“We can’t wait, we won’t wait.
“We need an emergency plan, which gives the NHS whatever it needs, to get waiting times falling immediately.”
Junior doctors from the BMA walked out at 7am on January 3 and are expected to continue to strike until 7am on Tuesday, January 9.