Midwives vote to accept NHS pay offer with 57% in favour and 43% rejecting it 

Midwives have voted to accept the latest NHS pay offer, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has announced.

In a turnout of 48 per cent of eligible members working in the NHS in England, 57 per cent voted to accept the deal, with 43 per cent rejecting it.

Alice Sorby, director of employment relations at the RCM, said: ‘The offer was not perfect, and it was not everything we asked for or that midwives and maternity support workers deserve.

‘However, it was a step forward from the Government’s entrenched position on 2022/23 pay and improved on its directions to the Pay Review Body for 2023/24.’

The Government’s pay offer followed intense negotiations with the RCM and other health unions. 

Announcing they had accepted the offer, the RCM said that the deal builds on the consolidated £1,400 – or 4 per cent for most members – pay award already imposed for 2022/23. 

They revealed the offer included a non-consolidated lump sum of 2 per cent of an individual’s salary, plus a one-off ‘backlog bonus’. 

‘The lump will be worth at least worth at least £1,250, with many midwives receiving over £2,000,’ the RCM added. 

‘For 2023/24 there will be a consolidated 5 per cent pay award and an increase to band 1 and the bottom of band 2 of 10.4 per cent. 

‘This will see entry-level pay in the NHS increase to £11.45 per hour, bringing a much-needed uplift for lower paid staff.’

The move from the RCM to accept the NHS pay offer comes amid several other health sector workers taking strike action in recent months.

The move from the RCM to accept the NHS pay offer comes amid several other health sector workers taking strike action in recent months. Pictured: Royal College of Nursing members strike

Junior doctors, nurses and ambulance workers have all taken action over long-running disputes about pay, jobs, pensions and conditions. 

It also comes as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) prepare for a 48-hour strike starting from 8pm or the start of the night shift on Sunday April 30 until 8pm or the start of the night shift on Tuesday May 2.

However, in a bitter blow to striking nurses, Health Secretary Steve Barclay announced this week that the Government would be taking legal action over the May 2 demonstration because of the RCN’s strike mandate expiring then. 

MORE TO FOLLOW.