LONDON – British healthcare workers and the government have reached an agreement on a pay deal, the i newspaper reported on Thursday.

It is a breakthrough following months of strikes in the state-run National Health Service (NHS). 

Any such offer would still be put to a vote among union members working for the service, which has been under strain from walkouts by nurses, doctors and ambulance workers for higher wages to cope with surging inflation. 

In February, nurses in England paused strike action to enter intensive talks with the government, while unions representing ambulance workers also called off planned strikes after agreeing a fresh round of talks.

Months of damaging strikes in the NHS – primarily over pay – have seen close to 150,000 appointments cancelled so far, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Doctors are not involved in the current talks.

Junior doctors went on strike over pay for three days this week, piling pressure on a health service already struggling with significant staff shortages and soaring demand over winter.

Prior to the reported agreement, finance minister Jeremy Hunt had said any pay rises must be carefully managed to avoid adding to inflation, which rose by 10.1 per cent in the 12 months to January.

He told BBC radio: “We have to pilot a very careful course to conclude the disputes but not to fuel inflation. That’s the fundamental tightrope that we have to walk.”

Any agreement would be a major boost for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government after months of industrial action across the NHS, schools and railways, ahead of a general election expected in 2024.

But teachers and doctors have so far refused to join talks.

The government has said a call for a 35 per cent pay rise from the British Medical Association, which represents doctors, is unaffordable.

“The government, NHS employers and unions representing the NHS Agenda for Change workforce have been holding constructive and meaningful discussions covering pay and non-pay matters,” the Department of Health and Social Care said in an e-mailed statement. “These talks are ongoing.”

Mr Hunt told BBC TV that the government is “working really hard to try and solve these issues”, and has “engaged very productively with the NHS unions”. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS