Unions close to pay deal to avert more NHS strikes

A pay deal between health unions and the government in England is expected to be announced this afternoon, the BBC understands.

The government offer includes a bonus likely to be in excess of £1,000 for this year and a rise of close to 5% for the next financial year starting in April.

Negotiators on both sides have agreed it is the best deal they can get to.

Unions are now expected to recommend it to members in a vote.

But it is unclear yet how many of the 14 unions involved will do that. A statement is expected in the coming hours.

The talks have lasted nearly two weeks.

The offer covers all NHS staff except doctors, who are on a different contract.

It comes after a winter of industrial action which has seen nurses, ambulance staff and physios all go on strike.

The unions involved in the current talks put further action on hold after the government agreed to enter discussions last month.

Earlier, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he hoped a resolution to the dispute was near.

"We are working really hard to try and solve these issues," he told BBC Breakfast. "We have engaged very productively so I'm keeping my fingers crossed."

The talks have been led the the NHS Staff Council, which represents the 14 health unions.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said the government, NHS employers and unions had been holding constructive and meaningful discussions covering pay and non-pay matters and that the talks were ongoing.

A 72-hour strike by junior doctors, who say inflation means the real value of their pay has fallen 26% since 2008, went ahead on 13-15 March.

They are asking for a 35% pay rise, but the government has said the request is "completely unaffordable".

The British Medical Association has called the strikes the "first round of action".