The Royal College of Podiatry welcomes commitment to restore pay parity for Northern Ireland health staff
Move follows sustained pressure from unions and professional bodies to honour Pay Review Body recommendations
The Royal College of Podiatry (RCPod) has welcomed the recent announcement from Northern Ireland Health Minister Mike Nesbitt confirming that the Executive has approved funding to restore pay parity for health service staff.
In his statement, the Minister said:
“The Executive has today given me approval to deliver pay parity for health service staff, which was our original intention and what unions and professional bodies have been asking for and is their right.
“This would restore pay parity with the percentage uplifts as recommended by pay review bodies being backdated in full to 1 April 2025. I would expect our HSC workforce to receive their uplift and back pay in their February 2026 pay packets.
“In addition, and to ensure that issue of late payment of pay awards will never happen again, I can confirm that as Health Minister I am committed to ensuring future pay awards are prioritised in my budget allocation at the start of the financial year and adjusted as necessary to ensure parity.”
The Pay Review Body recommended a pay uplift of 3.6% for England, Wales and Northern Ireland earlier this year. The RCPod, alongside other health unions, has consistently applied pressure on the Department of Health to implement this recommendation.
Health trade unions also acknowledged the announcement, describing it as “movement in the right direction” while stressing the need for detailed discussions on next steps and highlighting the impact of repeated delays on staff, particularly those on the lowest pay.
Martin Furlong, Deputy General Secretary, Royal College of Podiatry, said:
“We welcome the statement from Mike Nesbitt and from the Health and Social Care Unions and will inform our members in Northern Ireland when we get the official letter from the Department of Health.”
The College will update members as soon as the official letter from the Department of Health is received.