More than 1.4 million NHS employees to get 3.3% pay rise after militant strike motion crippled hospitals
More than 1.4 million NHS workers are to receive a 3.3 per cent pay rise from April, the Government has announced.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirmed he will accept the NHS Pay Review Body headline recommendations for health workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
He said the uplift represented a ‘real terms pay rise’ for NHS staff with it above the Office for Budget Responsibility’s inflation forecast of 2.2 per cent.
It comes just months after strike action by resident doctors crippled hospitals in the run-up to Christmas.
‘We have listened to the workforce and understand the difficulties they face when pay awards are not delivered on time,’ Mr Streeting said.
‘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.’
Resident doctors already received a 28.9 per cent pay rise over the last three years, including an inflation-busting hike last year of 5.4 per cent – the most generous in the public sector.
However, union bosses have criticised the latest increase. UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: ‘Hard-pressed NHS staff will be downright angry at another below-inflation pay award.’
More than 1.4 million NHS workers will receive a 3.3% pay rise from April, the Government has announced
Health Secretary Wes Streeting speaks to Dr Greg Cook during a visit to the specialist surgical unit at Trafford General Hospital in Manchester on February 12, 2026
The increase in NHS staff pay packets comes after medics walked out between December 17 and December 22, as hospitals saw an overwhelming number of flu patients across the country.
Mr Streeting condemned the strikes as ‘self-indulgent, irresponsible and dangerous’ and warned of ‘fatal harm’ to patients.
Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary welcomed the pay rise, but moaned that it was ‘just not enough to make up for more than a decade of pay cuts under the Tories’.
‘NHS workers deserve more and GMB will fight for that at the long overdue agenda for change structural talks we have now been promised,’ he said.
‘GMB reps will now meet to discuss the pay award and determine next steps.’
Speaking of NHS workers, Ms Pile added: ‘Yet again, they’re expected to keep delivering more while effectively being given less, as pay slides behind living costs. Having an increase on time for once is only small comfort.
‘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.’
Jim Fahie, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy’s assistant director for employment relations, warned the Government that the award would fall short of members’ expectations.
‘It is less than last year’s award and lower than the current rate of inflation, so is a real-terms pay cut and makes absolutely no ground on restoration,’ he said.
Mr Streeting has agreed a 3.3 per cent pay rise for health workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and said it represented a ‘real terms pay rise’
‘This comes at a time when our members are working ever harder due to chronic staff shortages and huge waiting lists.’
Gill Walton, Royal College of Midwives general secretary, said: ‘The Government has let down midwives and maternity support workers yet again, after months of promises from the Health Secretary that he would invest in maternity services and keep them safe.
‘Without fixing the unfair pay system, this real-terms pay cut is an insult to midwives who work 100,000 unpaid hours every week just to keep maternity services running.
‘Our members are sick and tired of these broken promises to sort out pay and staffing and their anger is justified.’
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said that ‘it beggars belief that a Labour Government should seek to ride roughshod over the health unions when deciding on NHS pay’.
She said: ‘For too long, NHS workers have been overworked, underpaid and undervalued.’
A Department of Health and Social Care 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.’
Yesterday, resident doctors in Scotland also accepted a pay deal which will give them on average a pay hike of almost 10 per cent for the current financial year and 9.4 per cent for 2026/27.
