‘Ministers have sparked a new confrontation with NHS staff by trying to derail a pay rise they were promised next year and to scrap their pay progression system linked to length of service.
In a surprise move, the health secretary, Jeremy *unt, urged the two independent pay review bodies that set earnings for the NHS’s 1.3 million workforce to cancel the 1% rise due in April 2014, even though the chancellor, George Osborne, has previously said it is affordable.
Hunt further alienated health unions by trying to end the long-established tradition in the NHS whereby many staff receive small increases each year, in addition to any pay rise, by moving up grades within their pay band, as long as their performance has been satisfactory.’
Read more: Jeremy Hunt on collision course as he says no to NHS pay rises
