Government proposes 2.4% NHS pay uplift for 2027-28 as unions warn of backlash
The government has proposed a 2.4% pay uplift for nurses and other Agenda for Change staff in England in its evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body — a figure unions branded derisory.
The government has proposed a 2.4% pay uplift for nurses, midwives and other Agenda for Change staff in England, in its written evidence to the independent NHS Pay Review Body for the 2027-28 pay round, the Nursing Times and Nursing in Practice reported today.
The 74-page DHSC/NHS England evidence, published Monday, says ministers’ plans allow for 2.4% “without having to make trade-offs against headline government health commitments”. If the review body recommends more, DHSC “would need to consider whether and how this could be made affordable from existing budgets”, warning “accepting such an award would inevitably have an impact on healthcare delivery”.
The figure trails the 3.6% nurses in England and Wales got for 2025-26 and inflation — CPI was 3.1% in August, core 2.6%.
The same 2.4% went to the doctors’ review body. BMA council chair Dr Tom Dolphin said “ministers are saying doctors deserve a pay cut”, urging the DDRB to consider “what the NHS and patients really need, rather than be hamstrung by a Government telling them it is not prepared to invest properly in the medical workforce”.
Unions reacted angrily. Unison head of health Helga Pile said “NHS staff will take a very dim view of ministers trying once again to get away with an insulting pay rise, falling well short of expected inflation”, calling the proposal “derisory”.
Separately, Flip News reported earlier that around 300 Guy’s and St Thomas’ staff began a three-day strike today.
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