UK government to back National Health Services by giving 3% salary hike to health workers

The Boris Johnson Administration, on July 22, said that it will back the UK’s National Health Services (NHS) by providing a three per cent salary hike to all its workers in full accordance with recommendations of the NHS independent pay review bodies. With the coronavirus contagion creating chaos across the British territory, health workers are under “huge pressure” to safeguard the people’s lives. Pertaining to the same, Downing Street in a statement announced that it has accepted the recommendations for the increment in the remunerations. 

"NHS staff including nurses, paramedics, consultants, and dentists in England will receive a 3 percent pay rise backdated to April 2021 after the government accepted the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body and the Review Body for Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration," the statement read.

'Extraordinary efforts' 

According to the UK government, the NHS has more than 45,300 staff working for it in 2021. Affirming the increment, the country’s Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said that it was rightly deserved by the frontline health workers as they have put in ‘extraordinary efforts’ during the pandemic. He also revealed that the pay rise would be backdated to April 2021. "We asked the independent pay review bodies for their recommendations and I am pleased to accept them in full, with a 3 per cent pay rise for all staff in scope, from doctors and nurses to paramedics and porters," Javid said in the statement.

This comes as the UK government has scrapped the year-long COVID-19 restrictions. After the decision was announced, local media is calling for the occasion to be celebrated as 'Freedom Day'. According to the local media reports, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to discard regulations is intending to restart the dwindling economy. Furthermore, if the vaccines prove to be effective, this could also be a landmark example of how other fully-vaccinated countries could deal with surging COVID-19 infections, PM Boris Johnson explained. 

The PM has put his faith in vaccines and urged people to be vigilant in the current situation while the country witnesses a steep surge in the COVID-19 Delta Variant infections, which were first reported in India. It is noteworthy that England has reported 5,563,006 cases till now, according to the latest tally by worldometers. 

Image: AP/ NHSproviders/Twitter