Northern Ireland Windor Framework and Stormont deadlock: Parties clash over blame as NHS workers refused pay rise

He said he did not have the authority to make cutbacks that, he said, would have “severe and lasting implications” for health and social care services.

Failure to roll out in Northern Ireland the 5% wage increase approved for NHS workers in England would result in Stormont breaking the principle of pay parity.

The announcement by Mr May comes as unions in Northern Ireland prepare for fresh talks with Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris on their pay demands.

Health workers in the province have been involved in industrial action in recent months amid ongoing disputes about wages and conditions.

In a letter to party health spokespersons, Mr May said: “I am very aware of the potential impact this could have on staff and on industrial relations.”

​The Alliance Party and SDLP said the lack of a Stormont Executive is hindering resolution of the matter, however the DUP said that the main problem was not enough funding from Westminster.

DUP health spokesman Paul Givan said: “The fundamental problem is that the needs in Northern Ireland are not being met by the Barnett funding model.

“The DUP is the only party saying this. A devolved minister would be able to choose which areas to cut but they would still have to cut at a time when we should be investing and reforming because there is not enough money.

“Staff are at the heart of our health service, and they excelled during the recent pandemic and every day on the frontline. We are determined to ensure they are well supported and that the sector is attractive to those who might consider working in healthcare.”

He said that staff must be given fair pay so as to encourage people into the field and ensure we have safe-staffing levels. As 90% of all contacts within the NHS occur with a GP, the party wants to see substantially more of them trained, he added.

​Alliance health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw MLA said it is now “blatantly obvious” that further stalling on executive formation is denying health and social care workers fair pay.

The South Belfast MLA said: “A certain party still talks in terms of ‘taking its time’ on executive restoration, but the fact is the health and social care workers for whom we stood on our doorsteps and applauded are out of time.”

Around 75% of the electorate just gave first preference votes to parties that want to restore the institutions, she added.

SDLP health spokesperson Colin McGrath said the problems was due to the “austerity budget being imposed on us by the Tories”.

He added: “Civil servants should not be put in the difficult position of having to implement these cuts, we should have an executive and assembly in place with these decisions left to ministers, and MLAs with the power to resist such damage to services here.

“We cannot continue down this road unabated, it’s completely unsustainable and families deserve better than being continually punished as a result of the DUP’s boycott.”

TUV leader Jim Allister said it was “time the Secretary of State – who can readily find over £100m for Casement Park - stopped playing politics and got his priorities right. Nurses pay before GAA funding!”

Mr Heaton-Harris set the province’s budget last month, a move required due to the lack of power-sharing executive at Stormont.

The funding settlement was broadly in line with last year’s budget, however, with inflation soaring in the last 12 months and Stormont facing a range of additional pressures, including a series of public sector pay demands, NI is facing significant real-term cuts to public services. The Department of Health estimates a funding gap of £732m this year abd that a pay awards for NHS staff would cost a further £375m.