The accepted pay rewards will be implemented across Agenda for Change staff, alongside funding for a pay structure reform. The recommendations include a pay rise of 3.6%, as well as funding to the NHS Staff Council to resolve concerns with the Agenda for Change pay structure. The changes are intended to be put in place by 1 April 2026 in line with the new financial year.
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‘Health leaders will very much welcome this earlier announcement of pay awards for their teams and look forward to further improvements in timescales for decision making so that staff receive pay awards as the financial year commences,’ said Danny Mortimer, Chief Executive of NHS Employers. ‘The awards are above the level that the government previously indicated as affordable across the public sector. Our members will liaise with NHS England so that they can understand how this can be reflected in their financial plans this year.’
However, the recommendations have sparked debate amongst health leaders about not being enough to remedy their real terms cut in wages since 2010. The recommendations detail additional pay rises for doctors, dentists and senior management by up to 4%. Nursing unions such as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) claim that the pay awards favour other staff over nurses, and that they do not match the current rate of inflation. Concerns have also been raised about a ‘failed’ pay review body process that does not reflect the current state of nursing.
‘This pay award is entirely swallowed up by inflation and does nothing to change the status quo – where nursing is not valued, too few enter it and too many quit. It is a grotesque decision to again favour doctor colleagues for higher increases than nursing and the rest of the NHS. Starting salaries for nursing staff remain too low,’ said RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger. ‘By attaching themselves to a failed pay review body process and refusing to enter direct talks with unions, ministers ignored the nurse workforce crisis and charted the course for it to deepen.’