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Over one million NHS staff will receive an annual pay rise of at least £1,400 following the government’s decision to accept all recommendations made by the independent NHS pay review bodies.
The pay increase will affect porters and cleaners as well as nurses, paramedics, midwives, doctors and dentists to varying degrees. In all cases, the pay increase will be backdated to April 2022.
The lowest earners will see a 9.3% pay rise in their basic pay
The lowest earners will see a 9.3% increase in their basic pay this year compared to last year, while dentists and doctors within the Doctors and Dentists’ Remuneration Body (DDRB) remit will receive a 4.5% pay rise.
The average basic pay for nurses will increase from around £35,600 to around £37,000 per annum, while the basic pay for newly qualified nurses will increase by 5.5%, from £25,655 last year to £27,055 this year.
Some staff will also continue to benefit from performance pay, overtime, pay progression and pay rises from promotion, alongside the pay uplift.
The government states that these pay awards strike a careful balance between recognising the vital importance of public sector workers, whilst delivering value for the taxpayer, not increasing the country’s debt further and being careful not to drive even higher prices in the future.
A ‘fair deal’ for staff
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “This government hugely values and appreciates the dedication and contribution of NHS staff which is why we will give over one million NHS workers a pay rise of £1,400 this year, on top of the 3% they received last year when pay rises were temporarily paused in the wider public sector.
“We asked the independent pay review bodies for their recommendations and I am pleased to accept them in full.
“We want a fair deal for staff. Very high inflation-driven settlements would have a worse impact on pay packets in the long run than proportionate and balanced increases now, and it is welcome that the pay review bodies agree with this approach.”
Personal training budget also available to every nurse, midwife and allied health professional
On top of these pay increases, all eligible nursing, midwifery and allied health professional students will benefit from a training grant worth at least £5,000 a year, with up to £3,000 extra available for childcare and those studying certain specialisms.
Every nurse, midwife and allied health professional working across NHS hospital and community care and general practice will also have access to a personal training budget of more than £1,000 over three years to support their personal learning and development needs.
The government hope that this extra investment will demonstrate its continued commitment to recruiting, developing and retaining the best staff.
“A brutal pay cut that will come as a bitter blow for doctors across England”
However, the British Medical Association (BMA) says the increase does nothing to reverse more than a decade’s worth of sub-inflation pay awards, and completely ignores the BMA’s calls for full pay restoration to 2008/2009 levels.
BMA council chair Professor Philip Banfield said: “Today’s announcement represents a brutal pay cut that will come as a bitter blow for doctors across England. Ministers can paint whatever picture they like, but this represents a complete failure to recognise the sacrifices of doctors in the pandemic, through year-on-year real terms cuts going back to 2008.
“That the UK Government has excluded junior doctors in England, even from this year’s paltry offer due to a multi-year agreement made way before we could have anticipated the damage wrought by the pandemic and sky-high inflation, is a disgrace. It exposes their contempt for my already low-paid colleagues who will be rightly furious.
“The NHS is already facing a precarious future due to chronic under-funding, a backlog of patient care that will take years to clear, and punitive pensions rules driving doctors out of the profession, when the Government should be doing all it can to recruit and retain them. Today’s announcement makes the situation worse.”
The BMA say they will continue to fight for the full restoration of pay lost since 2008 and warn that until the government takes heed of their advice, more doctors will continue to be driven away from the NHS.