The Government announced the pay rise across the public sector this week, to take effect in April. This will not apply to all NHS staff, with an estimated 600,000 only receiving their annual increment, which led to the threat of industrial action from Unite.
Royles claims that the current increase will still test the finances of the NHS, despite it not being rolled out across the board.
Royles said that the Government was making difficult decisions, but he hoped the announcement would mean more NHS staff could stay in their jobs. He did not rule out further job losses though.
"Even with limiting the increase to staff at the top of their pay scales, employers still face a £150 million pay bill pressure this year. This is bound to have an impact," he said.
The statement came on the same day that Unite announced it was considering legal action over the decision not to award pay rises to all NHS staff. It accused Jeremy Hunt of attempting to 'divide and rule' by accepting the recommendations of the Pay Review Body and not giving some workers an increase in pay.
Unite head of health Rachael Maskell said: "Jeremy Hunt is deliberately muddying the waters by implying that the annual increment staff receive, as they gain more skills to benefit patients throughout their careers, is part of the annual pay increase – it is not."
