NHS pay rise may have to come from existing budget, says minister

Oliver Dowden says it ‘won’t be easy’ to fund estimated £1.5bn offer for nurses and ambulance staff A breakthrough pay rise offer for nurses and ambulance workers may have to be funded within the existing NHS budget, a senior cabinet minister has admitted. Footing the bill – estimated to be about £1.5bn – “won’t be easy”, according to Oliver Dowden, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. He said it had proven “challenging” to find the money, days after unions …