NHS Pay deal 2023

Pay

The NHS Staff Council met on 2 May to make a decision on NHS pay. The majority of NHS workers and their unions, including UNISON, voted to accept the pay offer.

It has taken months of strike action to force this from the government, but today’s decision means we finally have a deal.

UNISON has called for this to be implemented as soon as possible. Employers say they expect that to pay the money in June, as it is too late for this month’s payroll. The exact date will depend on your usual payday, as this can differ by employer.

The deal

In addition to the £1,400 a year pay rise NHS staff got last autumn, the deal is: 

  • An extra one-off lump sum which begins at £1,655 for the lowest paid staff and rises in value up the pay bands. 
  • A permanent 5% pay rise on all pay points for 2023/24, worth at least £1,065. 
  • A permanent 10.4% increase to Band 1 and the entry point of Band 2, raising the lowest pay point in the NHS to £11.45 an hour – 55p higher than the real Living Wage. 

You can use the Pay Calculator and read some FAQs here

UNISON has made sure there is a process for employers to offer staff an option to take their lump sum in instalments rather than in one month’s pay packet – which may be helpful for staff in receipt of benefits such as Universal Credit. If this affects you, you will need to let your employer know. Your employer and your local UNISON branch should be in touch to let you know how to do this where you work.

Now we have confirmation that the pay offer UNISON members voted to accept will be paid, this marks the end of this particular dispute. But it’s not the end of our campaign to improve NHS pay.

What’s next?

We demonstrated how powerful NHS staff are when we all come together. We forced this hostile government to get around the table with us and present a better offer.

Industrial action works. Direct negotiation works. This pay round has proved that for good. Now we build.

With greater support and a higher turnout, we can force the government to go further, faster in future.

There’s so much still to do. We need you and your colleagues to help expand our campaign on re-banding, to make sure that all NHS staff are on the right band, getting the right pay for the work they do. And to campaign on overtime pay, so that everyone gets the pay they are owed. And that’s just to start with.

The government has also committed to reviewing the process for setting pay awards going forward. After years of waiting in vain on a Pay Review Body process over which we have no control, we’ve proven this year that negotiation gets results. So we’ll keep pushing for this.

And we’ve proven that we’re strongest when everyone in the NHS comes together as One Team.

It should never have come to this. The government must now invest long term in NHS pay and staffing.

The fight for the future of the NHS and its workforce is not over. This is only the beginning.

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