NHS unions say pay award is an ‘insult’ amid fears of more NHS strikes but Health Secretary Wes Streeting says the uplift delivers a ‘real terms pay rise’ for workforce
NHS unions say health workers are “downright angry” after the Government announced they will get a 3.3% pay rise next year.
Unions representing nurses said “another below inflation pay award” is an “insult” amid fears of more NHS strikes. The latest Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation was 4.2% in December and the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate was 3.4%. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the uplift was above the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast inflation of 2.2% for 2026-27, delivering a “real terms pay rise” for NHS staff.
Professor Nicola Ranger, General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “A pay award below the current level of inflation is an insult. Unless inflation falls, the government is forcing a very real pay cut on its NHS workers. This knife-edge game playing is no way to treat people who prop up a system in crisis.
“We will compare and contrast this announcement with the awards for the rest of the NHS and the public sector as a whole before deciding a way forward. Nursing staff will not tolerate the disrespect of other years, when we were bottom of the pile.”
The Government announced it was accepting a recommendation from the NHS Pay Review Body of 3.3% for 2026/27 which unions say is not independent and constrained by what Treasury says it can afford. The increase will be in pay packets on time from April for the first time in six years.
Mr Streeting said: “We have listened to the workforce and understand the difficulties they face when pay awards are not delivered on time. That’s why this Government committed to speeding up the pay review process, remitting the Pay Review Bodies months earlier than previous years, and submitting written evidence earlier too. In making this award, I am accepting in full the recommendation from the NHS Pay Review Body.”
Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary said: “GMB welcomes the efforts made to ensure NHS workers will receive their pay increase when it is due, in April. The first time this will have happened in years, but this award is just not enough to make up for more than a decade of pay cuts under the Tories.”
The pay award comes as resident doctors continue to strike despite being offered a better pay deal than the rest of the NHS workforce this year. Resident doctors got a 5.4% pay rise in 2025/26 while the rest of the NHS workforce got 3.6%.
The upcoming 3.3% pay award applies to 1.4 million NHS workers on the main ‘Agenda for Change’ contract, which excludes doctors. The award for 2026/27 covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Helga Pile, head of health at Unison, which is the country’s biggest union and represents a host of different NHS workers, said: “Hard-pressed NHS staff will be downright angry at another below-inflation pay award. Yet again, they’re expected to keep delivering more while effectively being given less, as pay slides behind living costs.
“Nurses, healthcare assistants, occupational therapists, ambulance staff, porters and all the other essential health staff need proper investment in their pay. Ministers’ plans for the NHS stand or fall on having a stable, motivated workforce to deliver them. That’ll need proper progress in restoring the value wiped from wages over the past decade and fixing problems in how the NHS pay system works.”
