Chris Heaton-Harris refuses to say if nurses should be paid same as politicians, amid RCN warning NHS services are unsafe
The 17.6% pay rise understood to be demanded by nurses who have voted to strike has been described as “remarkably high” by a cabinet minister, who admitted the expected action this winter would “completely disrupt” the NHS.
Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, said it was “difficult to judge” whether nurses were currently paid enough and that while it was not his “area of expertise”, he believed their job was “a vocation”.