- 09 January 2023
- 4 min read
NHS Strikes And Pay In 2023: Why Are Nurses Striking?
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“Take for example the fact that 42% of nurses are on Band 5. That means that quite a large percentage of nurses actually earn less than the UK average salary.”With more strike action planned in January, this brief guide aims to clarify a few facts about nursing pay.
The Background
Following NHS strikes across the country in December, more strikes are planned by nurses on 18 and 19 January. That’s because no agreement has been made between trade unions and the government.
But in amongst this news, there is a great deal of noise, debate and misinformation surrounding why NHS nurses are striking.
The strikes, organised by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), are primarily about pay. So this brief guide aims to clarify exactly how we got to this point.
What Are NHS Nurses Paid?
Newly qualified nurses are paid a Band 5 salary, just over £27,000 a year. With 4 years’ experience this salary rises to around £33,000.
Nurses with enough experience can apply for Band 6 positions, with salaries ranging from just under £34,000 and £40,500 a year.
What the average NHS nurse actually earns is contentious because there is no definite and precise figure. That’s because there are so many potential variables within any calculations.
Since 2010, NHS nurse salaries have actually dropped by 10% in ‘real terms’ – that is, in relation to inflation.
However, a broadly agreed average salary is somewhere between £33,000 and £37,000 a year.
About this contributor
Nurses.co.uk Founder
I launched Nurses.co.uk (and subsequently Socialcare.co.uk, Healthjobs.co.uk and Healthcarejobs.ie) in 2008. 500 applications are made every day via our jobs boards, helping to connect hiring organisations recruiting for clinical, medical, care and support roles with specialist jobseekers. Our articles, often created by our own audience, shine a light on the career pathways in healthcare, and give a platform to ideas and opinions around their work and jobs.
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Log In Subscribe to commentKim Maidment
Kim Maidment
2 years agoThat does seem like quite a lot of money, about twice what I earn as a degree qualified Acupuncturist with ... read more
That does seem like quite a lot of money, about twice what I earn as a degree qualified Acupuncturist with 28 years experience. Plus Nurses can retire at 55 on full salary. They get support for training and wellbeing. Get paid Sick pay and holidays. Seems like an exceptionally good deal to me. I know that the NHS is very badly organised (I worked voluntarily for the NHS during Covid). I found that the majority of people were Managers of one sort or another and they always seemed to be "in meetings". The Personnel people even tried to pay me even though I was a volunteer and I had to sort that out but I found the online training was fantastic which gave me a chance for some CPD. I really cannot understand A and E Nurses or Cancer Nurses going on strike for money. What about the Patients? I am self - employed and when Patients have really needed me but have no money I have treated them for nothing or a reduced fee. I am supposed to be retiring at 66 in April but so many Patients ask me not to retire, I think I will carry on for now even though I don't earn enough to pay tax! Maybe I am an idiot. But if I go on srike my business collapses and at the moment people can't get to see their GP so they come to me instead so I am busier than ever. I really can't understand the NHS, during Covid I offered to set up a free Clinic in my local Hospital to treat NHS staff and was told it was 'inapropriate' and yet the accepted me as a Medical Electronics Technician! I would love to be paid £30,000 a year, it would be like winning the lottery.
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Thomas Boyle
Thomas Boyle
2 years agoI have been in the NHS nearly as long as Ron, 1979. I have had no desire to climb the ... read more
I have been in the NHS nearly as long as Ron, 1979. I have had no desire to climb the greasy pole of management, so I have stuck to face to face nursing. I have got the stage now that I am getting too old to carry on with the pace of full time working and I am looking at my superannuation pension, and have decided to take that and reduce my hours. My wife also a nurse, passed away less than 2 years ago whilst still in service, I have no intention of going down that route. I can afford to do this, there are a lot of others that are less fortunate. The present situation has been gradually getting worse since the 2 year pay freeze back in 2010, then year after year of under investment and below inflation pay awards. It was bound to come to a head sooner or later, COVID just accelerated the whole process. What is the goverment,s response , not to pay more but to legislate to make strikes illegal, end of rant.
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This is where the pay bands fail. I discuss this frequently(including in my hour long discussion with Nikki about the strike - you can watch the video). The NHS benefits from this experience but doesn... read more
This is where the pay bands fail. I discuss this frequently(including in my hour long discussion with Nikki about the strike - you can watch the video). The NHS benefits from this experience but doesn't reward it. We call it lattice progression. These(yours, Ron's)are the stories that don't get discussed. If you saw Nikki talk on Talk TV, the antagonistic Ian Collins leapt on the headlines but(as is the MO of these people)wasn't interested in the bigger conversation around what it actually means.
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Ron Taylor
Ron Taylor
2 years agoFigures are one thing Matt but reality is another. Over the past 20 + years nurses and many other healthcare ... read more
Figures are one thing Matt but reality is another. Over the past 20 + years nurses and many other healthcare workers have been underpaid. I recall in 1995 UK nurses got single digit pay so called rise and at that time I was working in Holland and we got a 10% real pay rise.
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Ron Taylor
Ron Taylor
2 years agoSorry to correct you Matt mostly Band 5 and not Ban 6 I’ve been in the Healthcare system for 45 ... read more
Sorry to correct you Matt mostly Band 5 and not Ban 6 I’ve been in the Healthcare system for 45 years and watched the decline
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I think we may be talking at cross purposes. And I imagine we don't disagree with one another on things generally! And I'm not disagreeing with your experience or that nurses are or are not underpaid.... read more
I think we may be talking at cross purposes. And I imagine we don't disagree with one another on things generally! And I'm not disagreeing with your experience or that nurses are or are not underpaid. If you check our our main pay page it explains where we get the figure from - it's just maths and we've crunched the numbers and you'll see the same figure on RCN / BBC etc etc...
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Ron Taylor
Ron Taylor
2 years agoMost Nurses and Other Healthcare staff are Band 5. And they should not quote Gross pay it should be actual ... read more
Most Nurses and Other Healthcare staff are Band 5. And they should not quote Gross pay it should be actual take home pay
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Hi Ron. Many are, but many are not Band 5. It's just averages / maths, to be honest. If you add it all up, do the sums, that's what it is. This part of the article is not a big deal, just setting out ... read more
Hi Ron. Many are, but many are not Band 5. It's just averages / maths, to be honest. If you add it all up, do the sums, that's what it is. This part of the article is not a big deal, just setting out the backdrop / giving info. Hope it helps. If not, ignore the mean / average / maths bit!
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About take home pay - if you go to our Pay Calculator page you can see all of that, and more! It's usual when talking about this particular subject to quote the gross. So we do too. But, yes, if you w... read more
About take home pay - if you go to our Pay Calculator page you can see all of that, and more! It's usual when talking about this particular subject to quote the gross. So we do too. But, yes, if you want to drill down into all the data we do that too on our other pages and pay calc page.
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Ron Taylor
Ron Taylor
2 years agoI would not trust the Government as far as I could throw them. 1. The average Gross pay is 27,000 ... read more
I would not trust the Government as far as I could throw them. 1. The average Gross pay is 27,000 not 33,000 PA. They should be talking about take home pay. Tax,National Insurance,NHS pension etc has gone not much left. They can change the threshold like any pay below 22,000 should be tax free. And any pay between 22,500 and 33,000 gross should not be 20% but 15%. If they want us to accept below inflation pay offers
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The average gross pay, if you look at the pay of all nurses and average it out, is that figure that we quoted Ron.