Long overdue pay rise finally confirmed for members in Northern Ireland

on 01 December 2021 Pay NHS Pay Review Body Pay and Agenda For Change Northern Ireland RCM Northern Ireland Midwives MSWs - Maternity Support Workers

After much delay yesterday Northern Ireland’s Health Minister Robin Swann announced he will finally implement a 3% pay award for RCM members.

The pay increase which was recommended by the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) sometime ago and is on par with what RCM members in England and Wales recently received.

Midwives and maternity support workers and all other Agenda for Change (AfC) Health and Social Care staff will now receive a 3% pay increase backdated to 1 April 2021. This is a consolidated pay increase for all members on AfC bands. It also follows a one-off payment of £735 which was paid to staff in recognition of their work during the pandemic.

In his letter to trade unions the Minster highlighted that no Barnett consequential was made available to the Northern Ireland Executive for this pay round. The RCM through discussions have called for this pay award to be implemented as quickly as possible and on this side of Christmas. However, the Minister’s office have confirmed that this pay award including any back pay owing will be paid to RCM members early in the new year.

The RCM believes 3% is the very least RCM members deserve and we will continue our Deliver a Decent Deal campaign with further discussions to see if any further enhancements can be negotiated for members in Northern Ireland. Once we have clarity about any further enhancements the RCM will be talking to members to gauge their views as we have done in the rest of the UK.

Read more about the RCM's Deliver a Decent Deal pay campaign here: https://www.rcm.org.uk/supporting/pay/