Nurses, midwives and other healthcare staff across Scotland have been offered a pay increase of 8 per cent over two years.

The offer guarantees the pay increase will be one percentage point above inflation over same period.

If the offer is accepted by unions, it will see pay raises of 4.25 per cent in 2025-26 and 3.75 per cent in 2026-27.

The offer, announced by health secretary Neil Gray, involves an investment of more than £700 million over the two-year period.

Almost 170,000 NHS Agenda for Change staff, including nurses, midwives, paramedics, allied health professionals, porters and others, will benefit from the pay rise which will be backdated to 1 April 2025.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “This is a strong two-year pay offer that has been agreed following constructive engagement with trade union representatives. It is guaranteed to remain above CPI inflation, which gives added reassurance to staff, and will ensure Scotland’s nurses, midwives and NHS staff have the best pay in the UK.

“This comes on the back of increased employer national insurance contributions following the UK Government announcement in October 2024. It directly increases the overall cost of pay by an estimated £191 million for Scotland’s NHS.

“I want to express my thanks again to Scotland’s hardworking healthcare staff for their continued hard work and commitment.

“The unions will now consult their members and I hope this offer will be accepted.”