New analysis from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has shown that nurse pay has been so severely eroded, that starting salaries are now over £8k lower than if wages had kept up with inflation since 2010.
It shows more junior nursing staff have been the worst hit, with Band 5s (21%) seeing the biggest erosion of their wages.
It comes as tens of thousands of nursing staff continue to vote in the RCN’s consultation on this year's pay award, and just days after resident doctors announced they will be taking strike action later this month.
Ministers have lauded the fact that starting salaries for a registered nurse have passed £30,000 for the first time this year, describing the award as ‘a demonstration of how much we value those who care for our sick’. However, the new analysis shows that had pay kept up with RPI – the most accurate measure for the cost of living - since 2010, the starting salary for a registered nurse would be nearly £40,000 a year.
For band 5 nurses, many of whom stay trapped at the same band from the start to the end of their career, sustained low and below inflation awards between 2010 and 2025 account to a cumulative loss of earnings of £70,000. The current NHS pay system unfairly weighs nursing staff towards the bottom of the scale and requires them to move away from treating patients in order to progress their careers.
The RCN says addressing ‘collapsing wages’ for those at the start of their careers must be a priority for the government, especially if it wants to boost recruitment into the profession and deliver the government’s 10 Year Health Plan. The intervention comes on the same day the Health Secretary appears in front of the Health and Social Care committee for this first time since the plan was announced.
Even by the Government’s favoured CPI measure, which ignores the exorbitant cost of housing, the analysis shows that this year’s award is worth just an extra £5 a month for a new nurse, equivalent to the cost of a supermarket meal deal.
The financial picture is worse still for lower paid nursing support staff at band 3, for whom the award is worth less than £4.38 extra a month.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is currently asking 345,000 members across England, Wales and Northern Ireland if this year’s 3.6% pay award, almost the lowest in the public sector, is enough.
The consultation of RCN members will inform next steps for the College. Recent polling from YouGov found that two-thirds (66%) of the public don’t believe the UK government values nursing staff very much or at all.
Responding to the findings, Executive Director for RCN England, Patricia Marquis, said:
"This award is derisory. It does nothing to reverse the trend of collapsing wages, especially for nurses at the start of their careers, and even by the government’s own calculations barely covers the cost of a sandwich and a drink. Nursing staff are tired of playing constant financial catch-up, often struggling to pay rent or get on the housing ladder.
“Nursing is an incredible profession, but we are weighted to the bottom of the NHS pay scales and received one of the lowest awards this year, a situation which is deepening the workforce crisis and impacting patient care. Attracting and keeping talented people should be the government’s priority, but that requires them to do better on nursing pay.
“Our members are voting in their tens of thousands and making their voices heard on this pay award. Ministers must realise that the only sensible choice left to them to negotiate directly with the largest health care workforce. It is time to both deliver better pay and pay modernisation for nursing staff.
Ends
Notes to editors
According to analysis by the RCN, starting salaries for nursing staff in England have decreased in real terms since 2010 by the following amounts:
- Band 4: £6,226.45, or 18%
- Band 5: £8,324.12, or 21%
- Band 6: £8,160.95, or 17%
- Band 7: £8,726.39, or 15%
The decreased salaries in real terms since 2010 has also cost nursing staff cumulative totals in lost earnings:
- Band 4: £50,521
- Band 5: £68,916
- Band 6: £71,680
- Band 7: £78,769
Methodology
The Retail Price Index, as according to the ONS has been used here as the measure of inflation for comparison to wages. RPI includes the measurement of housing costs which make up a large proportion of household outgoings, unlike CPI. It is regularly used by government in the calculation of increases to a range of services, from rail tickets to student loans.
The ONS’ data on RPI, indexed to 2010 has been used to estimate the purchasing power of 2010 nurse wages based on annual increases in inflation. This has been compared with salary information for each Agenda for Change band, available via annual pay circulars and other relevant documents denoting changes in pay.
