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NHS and care workers in Wales are to get a bonus payment, the Welsh Government has announced.

The one-off payment is equivalent to £735 per person, to cover the basic rate of tax and national insurance contributions incurred. After deductions most people will receive £500.

It is estimated the payment will benefit 221,945 people in Wales including 103,600 social care staff, 90,000 NHS Wales staff, 2,345 deployed students and 26,000 primary care staff (including pharmacy, GP, dental and optometry staff).

Health minister Vaughan Gething said: “Over the last year, Wales’ NHS staff and social care staff have shown a remarkable amount of commitment and courage from the initial outbreak of the pandemic right through to the current second wave.

“They will have suffered the impacts of the pandemic on their physical and mental health wellbeing in both their personal and professional lives.

“This payment expresses our gratitude to our NHS and social care workforce for their extraordinary contribution in keeping Wales safe.”

It the second bonus to social care staff, and the first for NHS workers.

Caerphilly County Borough Council welcomes payment

Councillor Shayne Cook, Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Social Care, said: “Over the past year, I’ve been humbled to see the way health and social care staff across the county borough have worked tirelessly, with commitment, compassion and bravery in continuing to deliver the best possible care to those who most need it in our communities.

“There is no sum that can reflect what they have done but it is it very satisfying to see frontline staff recognised for their extraordinary service during the pandemic.”

“Spectre of election

Plaid Cymru’s Delyth Jewell, the party’s Shadow Minister for Public Services and the Senedd Member for South Wales East, welcomed the payment, but said it was “too little, too late” and called for a long-term pay rise for health and social care workers.

She said: “It should not take the spectre of an election for the Labour Welsh Government to recognise the invaluable work of our health and care workers.”

Caerphilly’s Labour Senedd Member Hefin David said: “This is a very welcome ‘thank you’ to our completely brilliant health and social care staff.

“Their indispensable contributions throughout the pandemic, have quite literally saved lives. They’re also playing a crucial part in bringing us through the other side of this crisis, by getting us all vaccinated at an exceptional rate.”