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Pay Review Body recommends 3.3% pay award - but NI nursing staff still waiting
The Pay Review Body (PRB) has recommended a 3.3% pay rise for nursing staff across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
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Governments in England and Wales have confirmed the award will be paid from April, but nursing staff in Northern Ireland are left with no clarity about when they will receive it.
Responding to the announcement, Professor Rita Devlin, RCN Northern Ireland Executive Director, said the recommendation falls far short of what nursing staff need and deserve.
“A pay award that falls below current inflation is very disappointing to our members. Without a significant drop in inflation, this award will amount to a real‑terms pay cut for health service staff.
“This year, across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, unions were led to expect direct negotiations with the government over this award. However, this hasn’t happened and we are left, once again, with the Pay Review Body recommendation. The RCN, alongside most other unions, withdrew from the Pay Review Body in 2025 as we do not consider it fit for purpose, and it continues to fail nursing staff.
“While this pay award will be implemented immediately in England and Wales, nursing staff in Northern Ireland are yet again being left without any certainty about when they will receive it. The Minister has stated his intention to act once a budget is agreed, but this cannot be an open‑ended promise and must be resolved urgently. It is indefensible that the absence of a Northern Ireland budget is blocking hardworking nursing staff from receiving the pay they are owed.
“The RCN will also now examine how this award compares with settlements across the rest of the NHS and wider public sector before determining our next steps. Nursing staff will not accept being left at the very bottom of the queue, again receiving the lowest public sector pay award.”
“The evidence is clear - low pay and poor working conditions are driving nurses out of the profession. Morale is at an all‑time low and nursing staff, who already feel deeply undervalued, are leaving. We must address these issues if we are to deliver safe care to the people of Northern Ireland.”
