PRESS RELEASE : Government and unions collaborate to implement NHS pay deal [June 2023]

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 13 June 2023.

Over one million NHS staff are already receiving pay rises, backdated to April, and one-off payments agreed between the government and the NHS staff council.

• The government and the NHS staff council launch a joint programme to implement non-pay measures in the deal to better support the NHS workforce, including improving opportunities for nursing career progression, reviewing safe staffing guidance and reducing agency spend
• Stakeholders asked to share their views on the NHS Pay Review Body process – including timing of the pay round, and appointments process for members

NHS staff are now benefitting from the Agenda for Change pay deal agreed between government and unions, ultimately helping to cut waiting lists and improve patient care.

Writing in an open letter to NHS staff today, the Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay will thank them for their hard work and update them on the measures being taken to improve their working lives.

The letter also outlines how the government will work with the NHS staff council to oversee the implementation of the non-pay elements of the recent NHS pay agreement. NHS staff council and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) will jointly chair a programme board, working collaboratively with leads from NHS England and NHS Employers to begin implementing the commitments. This includes ways to boost the welfare and retention of the NHS workforce and to improve opportunities for nursing career progression, reviewing safe staffing guidance and reducing agency spend.

As well as this, stakeholders who participate in the NHS Pay Review Body process – including health unions, NHS Employers, NHS Providers, NHS England and the devolved administrations – are being invited to share their views on how the NHS Pay Review Body can work as effectively as possible. This includes timing of the pay round, appointments process for members, input of the NHS staff council and the data and evidence that is fed in.

It follows over one million NHS staff receiving their pay rise, backdated to April, in their pay checks this month alongside one-off bonuses.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:

I hugely value the work of NHS staff and the vital role they’re playing to cut waiting lists, which is one of the government’s 5 priorities.

That’s exactly why we are pushing ahead with the deal we agreed with unions, which is about much more than just pay – it’s also about protecting people’s wellbeing and supporting their development.

We are working hand in hand with the NHS staff council to ensure we’re delivering the changes that staff want to see and will benefit them, and patients, the most.

The pay rise will see an Agenda for Change employee at the Band 6 entry point – such as an experienced physiotherapist, paramedic or a midwife – receive over £5,100 in extra pay across last year and this year, with over £2,000 in bonus payments arriving as a lump sum in pay cheques this month while a newly qualified nurse in Band 5 will receive £1,890 in one-off payments and see their basic pay increase to over £28,400.

It also means staff working on the lower bands in Bands 1 and 2 will be earning £11.45 per hour in 2023 to 2024, significantly above (9.9%), the National Living Wage.

To build a stronger, healthier NHS for the long-term with patients at its centre, it is vital to have the workforce to support it. There are already record numbers of staff working in the NHS to care for patients and cut waiting lists, with over 53,600 more people compared to a year ago – including over 5,400 more doctors and 12,900 more nurses. The government and NHS will build on this progress and will soon publish a workforce plan focused on recruiting and retaining more staff to make the NHS the best place to work.

Background

Stakeholders will be contacted shortly by the department to set out the next steps on how to submit their views on the Pay Review Body process.

See a copy of the letter from the Health Secretary to Agenda for Change staff.

A programme board, chaired by DHSC and staff council chairs, will provide oversight of the programme and ensure outcomes are in line with the original intention behind the deal.

The programme board would be responsible for commissioning workstreams, supporting policy development and ensuring work is delivered as intended with the Agenda for Change deal. Individual work strands will be owned and driven by either DHSC, NHS England or the NHS staff council.

Through the jointly owned programme board, DHSC and the NHS staff council will oversee all non-pay elements of the deal which include:

• looking for ways to improve nursing career progression
• a review of safe staffing guidance in order to develop a national evidence-based policy framework
• improving support for newly qualified healthcare registrants
• exploring the factors driving increasing rates of agency spend in the NHS
• looking for ways for the pay setting process and the NHS Pay Review Body to operate effectively
• agree amendments to terms and conditions to ensure that existing NHS staff will not suffer a detriment to their basic pay when they undertake apprenticeships as part of agreed career development
• considering how the job evaluation system can be consistently applied
• working with the Social Partnership Forum to identify ways to tackle and reduce violence against NHS staff
• consider the application of a cap to redundancy payments of £100,000 and over

For more information on the Agenda for Change pay deal see DHSC’s media fact sheet.