Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has claimed that the NHS cannot wait until the 2018 Budget to receive the ‘life-saving’ funds it needs, adding that the forthcoming pay deal for Agenda for Change staff was ‘forced’ upon Chancellor Philip Hammond ahead of time by the campaigning of the unions.
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Responding to Mr Hammond’s spring statement, Mr McDonnell also addressed reports that the new pay deal will see a day’s holiday taken away from staff, describing the move as ‘mean spirited’ and asking whether Mr Hammond would ‘drop this miserly act’.
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Earlier in Parliament, Mr Hammond delivered a spring statement that reiterated his desire to see ‘pay modernisation’ within the NHS.
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He said: ‘£4bn will go into the NHS in 2018/19 alone, and as I promised in the Autumn Budget, there is more to come if, as I hope, the unions and NHS management agree to a pay modernisation deal’.
