Cynon AM welcomes pay rise offer for NHS staff

A pay rise for staff working in NHS Wales is the best way to mark the 70^th birthday of the National Health Service, says Cynon Valley Assembly Member Vikki Howells. 

The offer from the Welsh Government, which provides a pay increase for staff across NHS Wales, matches and in some cases goes beyond the new NHS pay deal for England.

Negotiated with employers and unions, the deal will now need to be approved through a ballot of union members. If approved, it will mean that all NHS staff in Wales will have pay parity with their counterparts in England, following the recently announced new pay deal there.

Vikki Howells AM said:-

“NHS staff do an amazing job and deliver first class care to residents in Cynon Valley and across Wales.“It is fitting that as we celebrate 70 years of our wonderful NHS we recognise the work NHS staff do with this pay offer.

“The NHS could not function without the work so many dedicated staff do. I want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to them and to everybody who has worked in the NHS over the last 70 years.

“The then Labour Government fought hard to establish the NHS in the teeth of opposition from the Tories. With our Welsh Labour government NHS Wales is free from Tory privatisation with more nurses employed than ever before and more patients surviving cancer than ever before.

“The NHS is only safe in Welsh Labour’s hands.”