NHS workers to get pay rise – here’s the new starting salary for a nurse in the UK
All NHS workers, including doctors and nurses, will receive real-terms pay rises for the second year in a row, the government confirmed on Thursday (22 May).
This translates to a pay rise of 4% for consultants, specialty doctors, specialists and GPs, with dentists also receiving a contract uplift to increase their pay. The Department of Health and Social Care said it has also worked closely with unions to deliver on non-pay arrangements, agreed as part of last year’s deals, to improve working conditions for these staff groups.
Resident Doctors will see their pay rise by an average of 5.4% (a 4% rise plus a consolidated payment of £750). Agenda for Change (AfC) staff, which includes nurses, health visitors, midwives, ambulance staff, porters and cleaners will see their pay rise by 3.6%.
This has increased the starting salary of a nurse, for example, from £27,055 in 2022/2023 to around £31,050 this year – an increase of around £4,000 over the last three years.
All pay uplifts will be backdated to April 1st and will appear in pay packets from August – two months earlier than last year and the earliest award in years.
“These are thoroughly deserved pay rises for all our hard-working nurses, doctors and other NHS staff. We inherited a broken health service with extremely low morale after years of pay erosion and poor industrial relations,” said Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting.
“Which is why, despite the difficult financial situation the nation faces, we are backing our health workers with above-inflation pay rises for the second year in a row. This government was never going to be able to fully reverse a decade and a half of neglect in under a year, but this year’s pay increases – and last year’s – represent significant progress in making sure that NHS staff are properly recognised for the outstanding work they do.”
“In the past ten months, through our Plan for Change, we have worked with staff to cut waiting lists by 200,000 and put the NHS on the road to recovery. These real terms pay rises demonstrate our commitment to continue on our shared mission, to build an NHS fit for the future.”
The government has committed to remitting the pay review bodies for 2026/27 before the end of July, two months before last year, with an ambition to implement awards as soon as possible in 2026/27.
