The offer guarantees the pay increase will be one percentage point above inflation over same period.

If accepted by trade unions, it will see pay raises of 4.25% in 2025-26 and 3.75% in 2026-27. It involves an investment of more than £700m over the two-year period and will ensure almost 170,000 NHS Agenda for Change staff – including nurses, midwives, paramedics, allied health professionals, porters and others – benefit from the pay rise that will be backdated to 1 April 2025.

Gray said: ‘This is a strong two-year pay offer that has been agreed following constructive engagement with trade union representatives. It is guaranteed to remain above CPI inflation, which gives added reassurance to staff, and will ensure Scotland's nurses, midwives and NHS staff have the best pay in the UK.

‘This comes on the back of increased employer national insurance contributions following the UK Government announcement in October 2024. It directly increases the overall cost of pay by an estimated £191m for Scotland's NHS.'

In response, Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: ‘Talks with Scottish ministers have delivered a serious wage offer for NHS staff north of the border. Their English colleagues, and health workers in Wales and Northern Ireland, will understandably be feeling more than a little envious.

‘Scottish health workers already earn more each hour. Now they could get this year's wage rise before everyone else too.'

She added: ‘The Westminster government's insistence on waiting for the painfully slow NHS pay review body process before announcing this year's increase hasn't gone down well with health staff. It's causing a headache for their employers too.

‘Governments in London, Cardiff and Belfast should have taken up the offer of pay talks with unions when they had the chance. Health workers are key to turning around the fortunes of the NHS. The backlogs, waits and delays won't be fixed until pay is sorted.'