London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

NHS workers in England offered 3% pay rise

NHS workers in England offered 3% pay rise

Nurses and other NHS workers in England have been offered a 3% pay rise by government "in recognition of unique impact of the pandemic" on staff.

It comes after heavily criticised proposals made by the Department for Health and Social Care in March said only a rise of 1% was affordable.

All NHS staff in Wales will be offered a 3% rise by the Welsh government.

But some health unions opposed the new figure saying it does not reflect the sacrifices made by staff.

They point out the NHS workforce has been under unprecedented pressure.

The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents doctors, said the pay rise was disappointing and that junior doctors and some GPs could miss out on it altogether.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, of the BMA, said many doctors had not taken annual leave in the past year and now "face a gruelling year ahead with millions of patients on waiting lists, and the country in the midst of another Covid-19 wave".

Labour's shadow health minister Justin Madders described the new pay rise as a "U-turn" and called on the government to "make our NHS and key workers feel supported and valued after all they have done for us".

The rise in pay for healthcare workers follows a public sector pay freeze for 2021-22, announced by the government in November, with exceptions made for those on salaries under £24,000 and NHS staff.

The 3% pay rise is for most NHS staff including nurses, paramedics, consultants, dentists and salaried GPs and is backdated to April 2021.

According to government calculations for the average nurse, this will mean an additional £1,000 a year, while many porters and cleaners will receive around £540.

'Extraordinary efforts'


Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: "NHS staff are rightly receiving a pay rise this year despite the wider public sector pay pause, in recognition of their extraordinary efforts.

"We will back the NHS as we focus our efforts on getting through this pandemic and tackling the backlog of other health problems that has built up."

NHS pay rises are negotiated by independent pay-review bodies that look at evidence from a range of groups before making recommendations to the government.

The pay rise does not include doctors and dentists in training who have their own separate, multi-year contracts.

Frantic end to day of frustration

It was a day of frustration for health unions and their members.

There was a widespread expectation that the details would be revealed in a health minister's statement to the Commons at lunchtime.

But MPs were told the government was still considering pay review body recommendations.

Then the announcement came at 18:00 BST, suggesting a frantic afternoon finalising the deal with the prime minister, chancellor, and health secretary all self-isolating.

Union reaction has been varied with one group acknowledging ministers had made a significant step up from the original 1% offer.

Others though said the 3% on the table was insufficient recognition of the huge effort of NHS staff during the pandemic.

The details will be put to union members in the next few weeks and it will be hard to predict the response at a time when pressure on the health service is intensifying because of another Covid surge.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) gathered in Westminster ahead of the announcement with placards and banners demanding a 12.5% pay increase.

One of those demonstrating, Kafeelat Adekunle, 55, a community matron with Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, described the pay rise as "mad".

"I'm not happy," she told the PA news agency. "They're not listening, that's the whole problem. This is just to try and stop us from doing industrial action, just to keep us quiet, keep us shushed."

Amy Fancourt, an A&E nurse and RCN member, told the BBC: "Morale is extremely low, there's a lot of people leaving the NHS and there's a lot of people leaving the health sector more widely.

"And I think that is a direct consequence of years of being undervalued, on top of the extra pressure we faced during the pandemic."

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said the increase, though an improvement on the initial offer, fell short of what NHS staff deserved.

"The government has failed to show staff just how valued they are to us all," she said, warning some staff may now leave the health service.

Unite national officer for health, Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, described the 3% offer as "small step forward on the insulting 1% the government offered in March".

"However, this recommendation in no way recognises the 19% drop in real earnings that many NHS workers have endured in the last decade, nor the immense sacrifices that health staff have and are continuing to make as Covid infection rates rapidly rise again."

Nurses called for a bigger pay increase during a protest at Westminster

RCN chief executive Pat Cullen said the announcement was "light on detail" and that nursing staff would "remain dignified in responding to what will be a bitter blow to many".

"But the profession will not take this lying down," she warned.

Mike Henley, a member of the consultants committee, British Medical Association, told the BBC: "We're disappointed. We wanted more than 5% to make up for our one-third pay loss since 2008, so 3% is a long way below that."

In making the final decisions on pay the government will have factored in the impact of the pandemic on both the economy and the NHS.

Currently almost half the NHS's budget goes on staffing costs - a total of £56.1bn.

In theory, the pay-review bodies make recommendations for NHS staff across the UK - but it is up to the individual UK nations to decide whether to accept them.

In Wales, Health Minister Eluned Morgan said the 3% rise "recognises the dedication and commitment of hardworking NHS staff".

In Scotland, most NHS staff have already been offered a 4% pay rise (backdated to December 2020). This follows a one-off Covid payment for health and social care staff of £500.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×