Unions have expressed outrage at the announcement of a 3.3% pay rise for NHS staff on Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts.
In a statement to the House of Commons yesterday, health secretary Wes Streeting revealed that NHS staff will receive a 3.3% pay rise from April.
Mr Streeting said it was ‘above the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast inflation of 2.2 per cent for 2026-27’, based on the Consumer Prices Index, and described it as ‘a real terms pay rise’.
In his speech, Mr Streeting said: ‘Improving the experience of work for all staff, ensuring the NHS is a great place to work, is fundamental to improving the patient experience’.
He also highlighted that it ‘will be in pay packets from April for the first time in six years’ as opposed to being announced later in the year and backdated.
‘We have listened to the workforce and understand the difficulties they face when pay awards are not delivered on time,’ he said.
This means that the government has accepted the NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB)’s recommendation for 2026-27.
The announcement comes ahead of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ (DDRB), annual report which makes pay recommendations for GPs and salaried practice staff.
In a letter to NHS leaders, DHSC confirmed that additional funding ‘will be provided to reflect the final pay award by increasing integrated care board (ICB) allocations and NHS Payment Scheme prices.
‘Full guidance will be available in due course, but given the tight timescales, we will issue interim guidance to ICBs and trusts shortly. This will provide clarity on the cash flow and reporting requirements to support staff to be paid from this April onwards,’ it states, adding that ICBs should take ‘all necessary steps to support readiness for this uplift from April’.
Trade unions Unite and Unison have both criticised the announcement.
Unite pointed to the retail prices index (RPI) rate of inflation standing at 4.2%, saying that the pay increase is real terms pay cut, while the government said the 3.3% pay increase is above forecast inflation for the 2026-2027 pay year.
General secretary at Unite, Sharon Graham said: ‘It beggars belief that a Labour government should seek to ride roughshod over the health unions when deciding on NHS pay.
‘For too long, NHS workers have been overworked, under paid and under valued.
‘Today’s announcement will simply increase the problems of low pay that has seen thousands of healthcare workers leave, worsening the recruitment and retention crisis in our NHS.’
Unison head of health Helga Pile said: ‘For thousands at the bottom of the salary scale in England, half their increase has gone on bringing their hourly pay rate up to the legal minimum.
‘Ambitions to make the NHS the ‘country’s best employer’ are doomed to fail if it can’t even compete with high street supermarkets whose staff are on at least the real living wage.
She continued: ‘Ministers’ plans for the NHS stand or fall on having a stable, motivated workforce to deliver them.’
A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson said: ‘This government hugely appreciates the incredible work of talented staff across our NHS, which is why we have agreed to work with the NHS Staff Council and invest in reforming the Agenda for Change pay structure, and to prioritise increasing pay for graduates and the lowest paid members of staff.
‘Alongside these imminent talks, we have accepted the pay recommendation from the independent NHS Pay Review Body as part of this package on pay to deliver an above forecast inflation pay increase for the third consecutive year to 1.4 million NHS staff, including nurses, paramedics, midwives and hospital porters.
‘This pay boost will be in pay packets from the start of April for the first time in six years, demonstrating our commitment to getting money into the pockets of NHS staff in a timely fashion.’
