A PLANNED strike by health workers has been called off less than 48 hours before it was due to start.

Extensive talks between union bosses and Department of Health officials led to fresh proposals which will be put to workers.

The offer is believed to include a consolidated 1% payment for staff up to senior level, an additional £200 consolidated payment for lower paid staff, the first point on the pay scale to be abolished and the second raised to £15,100.

More than 400 ambulance and 2,000 hospital staff in Oxfordshire were due to walk out on Thursday.

Pickets were planned for outside the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill, Warneford and Littlemore hospitals, the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and East Oxford Health Centre.

Unison's head of health Christina McAnea said: "The two strike days staged by health workers last year have moved the government to negotiate with the unions.

"This isn't a great offer but it addresses some of the key concerns unions have about low pay in the NHS. In the interest of patients' safety unions will now consult members.

"It will be up to members to decide whether to accept or reject the proposals. If they choose to reject them we will move to further industrial action."

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