As Health Secretary I strongly believe that the passion, commitment, and specialist knowledge our doctors, nurses and other NHS staff provide is part of what makes our NHS so special. I recognise that staff morale is vital to maintaining staff commitment to services.
Indeed, it is my mission to make the NHS the safest, highest quality healthcare system in the world. There are over 10,100 more nurses on our wards since 2010 and over 52,000 nurses are now in training, and I recently committed to increase nurse training places by a further 25 per cent, the largest ever increase.
How we value and retain our staff is critical, and I am encouraged by the announcement in the 2017 Autumn Budget that in order to protect patient services, for staff employed under the Agenda for Change contract, if discussions on contract reform bears fruit the Government will make available additional funding above the one percent.
The talks are without prejudice to the NHS Pay Review Body process, and we expect to receive the Review Body's final report early summer next year.
The NHS is one of few public sector workforces that receive annual incremental pay progression. Around half of staff on Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts receive incremental pay of around 3 per cent on average. For example, a typical newly qualified nurse can expect seven years of pay progression averaging around 3.8 per cent a year, in addition to annual pay awards. This means that for around half of AfC staff, they received 1 per cent headline awards on top of incremental pay.
Concerning pay awards in recent years, the government accepted the Review Body's recommendations for one percent in 2016/2017 and in 2017/2018.
To help support NHS staff in their duty of care, the Government has committed to increase NHS spending in England by at least £8 billion in real terms by the end of this Parliament. By cutting bureaucracy and championing higher standards, Ministers have ensured that this money goes on frontline care and not administration.
And following the Autumn Budget, over the next three years the Government will provide the NHS with an additional £2.8 billion resource funding. Over this winter, the NHS will receive £335 million to manage winter pressures; a further £1.6 billion will be invested in 2018-19, and in 2019-20, £900 million will be provided.
I am proud the NHS has once again been rated the best healthcare system in the world, something that is only possible thanks to the dedication and hard work of all NHS staff, supported by a strong economy.