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Pay rise for nurses gets go-ahead Pay rise for nurses gets go-ahead
(about 5 hours later)
Nurses in Northern Ireland are to receive the full pay award recommended by the Independent Pay Review Body.Nurses in Northern Ireland are to receive the full pay award recommended by the Independent Pay Review Body.
The move means that nurses and midwives will receive a 2.5% increase back-dated from 1 April.The move means that nurses and midwives will receive a 2.5% increase back-dated from 1 April.
Health Minister Michael McGimpsey said all key workers in "the wider health service team" would get the increase.Health Minister Michael McGimpsey said all key workers in "the wider health service team" would get the increase.
The decision means that the only nurses in the UK who will not receive their full pay from April are those working in England.The decision means that the only nurses in the UK who will not receive their full pay from April are those working in England.
They are getting 1.5% now and an extra 1% in the autumn.They are getting 1.5% now and an extra 1% in the autumn.
Mr McGimpsey said he was on record as saying he believed that nurses "deserved to have their pay in full".Mr McGimpsey said he was on record as saying he believed that nurses "deserved to have their pay in full".
The minister said the pay rise would also be awarded to administrative and clerical staff "as well as other support services".The minister said the pay rise would also be awarded to administrative and clerical staff "as well as other support services".
Mary Hines, Royal College of Nursing, said it was not just an investment in nurses, but also in patient care. Mary Hines, Northern Ireland director of the Royal College of Nursing, said it was not just an investment in nurses, but also in patient care.
"The health minister has been very supportive, one has to say that Finance Minister Peter Robinson,who has to make difficult decisions, and the executive have been wonderful," she said."The health minister has been very supportive, one has to say that Finance Minister Peter Robinson,who has to make difficult decisions, and the executive have been wonderful," she said.
"They have listened to the voice of nursing and nurses in Northern Ireland.""They have listened to the voice of nursing and nurses in Northern Ireland."
Anger in England
Mike Jackson, deputy head of health at Unison, welcomed the Northern Ireland decision.
But he said: "It's time now for the UK Government to accept they got this wrong and lift the staging for English health workers and allow negotiations to conclude with a fair pay deal for all NHS staff."
His words were echoed by Dame Karlene Davis, General Secretary of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).
She said: "Midwives in England will be looking at this announcement and wondering what they have done to upset Gordon Brown and to be treated so badly.
"The government's attitude is Scrooge-like and it is shameful that they are happy to sit back and let midwives in England work for less money than their colleagues in the other countries."