PRESSURE is mounting on the Government to increase the pay rise being given to NHS staff above the one per cent rise it has announced.

Union leaders and opposition parties are demanding the Government increase the salary increase being given to NHS staff as a reward for their efforts throughout the NHS pandemic.

Many have criticised the one per cent boost for being below a 2.1 per cent boost previously agreed between Government and the NHS, which Trusts had factored into their budgets, for making staff worse off in real terms, and being an "insult" to staff who have been on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic for 12 months.

The Prime Minister stressed the one per cent rise was "as much as they could possibly give", as other public sector workers have all had their pay frozen.

Unison said the Government should admit it has made a mistake in its one per cent pay rise recommendation for NHS staff.

The union’s head of health Sara Gorton said: “The Prime Minister of all people should appreciate the skill and dedication of NHS staff.

“He should admit swiftly his Government has got this very wrong and think again.

“NHS staff are demoralised and exhausted from the pandemic. They mustn’t pay the price for the failure to resource the health service properly over the past decade.

“The huge outcry shows the public understands the UK simply can’t afford not to invest in the workforce right away if the NHS is to recover.”

Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the Prime Minister’s defence of the one per cent pay rise recommendation would lead to more nurses leaving the profession.

“Boris Johnson is still failing to understand the situation he has stumbled into – more of these warm words for nurses are not going to cut it,” she said.

“When there are already tens of thousands of unfilled nurse jobs in the NHS, he’s pushing more to the door this weekend.

“The Prime Minister must put his money where his mouth is. NHS staff are worth it and there is overwhelming public support. His Government can show it is listening and drop this plan.”

Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said Conservative MPs had already voted for a pay rise of 2.1 per cent for NHS workers.

Holding up some papers during an interview, he said: “This document is the NHS long-term spending plan – it promised a 2.1 per cent increase for NHS staff.

“Not only was it promised, it was budgeted for and it was legislated for – this is the law of the land. Tory MPs voted for 2.1 per cent.

“The Government budgeted for 2.1 per cent and it was passed in legislation because the spending plans for the NHS came to the House of Commons and it went through the Commons – every Tory MP voted for 2.1 per cent in January last year.

“That should be the basis for which negotiations and discussions are now entered into with the trade unions.”

There have been socially distanced protests in London and Manchester today over the decision to give staff just one extra penny in the pound of their pay packet.

Lisa Nandy, Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary, added: “The Government, to be clear, is not planning a pay rise.

“That is a real-terms pay cut because it doesn’t keep up with inflation and for nurses to be offered a pay cut is just reprehensible in our view.

“We think they ought to go into these negotiations at a bare minimum of honouring that promise of a 2.1 per cent increase and then consider what more they can offer to our NHS staff who have done so much to put their families and themselves at risk every day going into work – some of them have died.”

Defending the decision, Boris Johnson said: "I’m massively grateful to all NHS staff and indeed to social care workers who have been heroic throughout the pandemic.

“What we have done is try to give them as much as we can at the present time.

“The independent pay review body will obviously look at what we’ve proposed and come back.

“Don’t forget that there has been a public sector pay freeze, we’re in pretty tough times.

“We’ve tried to give the NHS as much as we possibly can and that means, in addition to the £140 billion of annual money, we’ve got another £62 billion we’ve found to help support the NHS throughout the crisis.

“My gratitude is overwhelming and I’m so grateful particularly to the nurses, and thankfully we are seeing more nurses now in our amazing NHS – there are 10,000 more nurses this year than there were last year.”