Emergency NHS pay rise exposes poverty rates in hospitals, says Unite

On 24th January NHS Employers implemented an emergency increase for all NHS staff on grade two and the bottom of grade three to ensure that they do not fall below the National Minimum Wage when that rises to £12.31 an hour in April.

The increase, worth 2.3%, will mean that the 200,000-plus staff affected by this decision will not receive a full NHS pay increase for 2025-26 when that is agreed.

Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, said: “This is a dark day for the NHS, pay rates for workers have now fallen so far that the government has had to intervene to ensure they remain legal.

“The NHS does not exist without its staff, until there is a proper reform of NHS pay the recruitment and retention crisis which is undermining our health service, will not be answered and the fundamental problems affecting care will not be resolved.”

Despite the emergency increase in pay, Unite argued that none of the affected workers would see their pay reach the real living wage – the minimum amount of pay it is estimated someone can live on, currently £12.60 outside of London.

Richard Munn, national officer for health at Unite, said: “Today’s announcement highlights the dire state of pay. 

“This is an emergency measure which only provides a short-term respite to low pay in the NHS. 

“Vital NHS staff including porters, cleaners, domestics, health care support workers are all trapped in this spiral of low pay.