NHS STAFF represented by Unison Cymru have voted to accept the devolved Labour government’s improved pay offer, the public services union announced today.

Almost four out of five of its members backed the deal, which amounts a 5 per cent wage boost for 2022-23 and an additional one-off payment for this financial year worth up to £1,190 for some staff.

Other health unions are also consulting their members on the offer before a key meeting with ministers in Cardiff later this month.

Unison members in England also recently voted to endorse a similar Tory deal from Westminster, but in a sign that the long-running disputes are far from over, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) staff on both sides of the Severn Bridge have rejected the latest offers.

RCN’s four-week ballot to renew its six-month strike mandate in England opens on May 23. 

Unison’s Jess Turner said: “NHS staff want and deserve more, but [our members] have opted to accept this offer and the certainty it brings them.

“This acceptance might end Unison’s NHS dispute, but it doesn’t solve the significant workforce issues facing the health service.”

Ms Turner demanded action on “tackling the growing staffing emergency and health-worker burnout.

“NHS staff have told us they need money in their pockets now to deal with the worsening cost-of-living crisis.

“If this deal goes through NHS staff will receive their pay rise much sooner than in previous years — this sets an expectation for the way NHS pay is approached in future in Wales.”

Further walkouts in Scotland have so far been avoided after the RCN and the union representing midwives backed the SNP government’s much-improved offer of between 13 and 14 per cent over two years.