NHS pay: Health staff to begin legal fight over Covid bonus

NHS staff are beginning their legal fight after some health workers were excluded from the one-off Covid bonus. 

It was part of a pay deal for more than a million NHS staff in England this year and was to recognise the pressure of the Covid pandemic on staff. 

The government could face a judicial review for excluding thousands of outsourced staff, such as community nurses and physiotherapists. 

The government said it was considering its position. 

The workers were excluded from the payments of between £1,655 and £3,789 because they were not directly employed by the NHS. Instead, they work for not-for-profit organisations, such as social enterprises, which together provide a third of community health services for the NHS.

About 20,000 health staff are thought to work in those services in England, the Department of Health and Social Care said.