Dear constituent,
Thank you for contacting me about NHS pay.
The focus, dedication and commitment of people working in the NHS is exemplary. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their courage and steadfastness during the Covid-19 pandemic. The independent pay review bodies provide a recommendation on the level of pay for NHS staff, doctors and dentists and the Government has accepted their recommendation in full.
This means that over a million NHS staff will benefit from another pay rise this year on top of the three per cent increase they received last year when pay was frozen in the wider public sector. Staff including nurses, paramedics and midwives, will receive a pay rise of at least £1,400 with the lowest earners including porters and cleaners are set to receive an increase of up to 9.3 per cent.
The NHS’s non-medical workforce, which includes nurses and paramedics, has received a cumulative pay rise of over 18 per cent in the last five years while consultants have received a cumulative pay rise of around 15 per cent.
All NHS staff under the remit of this year’s pay review will receive a pay rise. Over one million staff under the Agenda for Change contract, including nurses, paramedics and midwives, will benefit from a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year backdated to April 2022. This is on top of the 3% pay rise they received last year, despite a wider public sector pay pause.
The average nurse’s salary has increased from £32,385 in 2018/19 to £37,000 in 2022/23. The average basic pay for nurses will increase from around £35,600 as of March 2022 to around £37,000 and the basic pay for newly qualified nurses will increase by 5.5%, from £25,655 last year to £27,055.
Dentists and doctors within the Doctors and Dentists’ Remuneration Body (DDRB) remit this year will receive a 4.5% pay rise as the government accepts the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB) and the DDRB in full.
Across the public sector, these are the highest uplifts in nearly 20 years, reflecting the vital contributions public sector workers make to the country and the cost of living pressures facing households.
While I appreciate there are calls for further pay rises, I believe that pay should deliver value for the taxpayer and be careful not to drive inflation even higher. The independent pay review bodies take into account a range of factors when determining pay uplifts including cost of living, recruitment and retention.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
