Record Pay Offer To NHS AfC Staff - £568 Million For Agenda For Change (afc) Pay Deal In 2023/24hs

17th February 2023

Healthcare staff across Scotland have been offered the largest pay package in the history of the NHS, with a £568 million increase in investment.

160,000 NHS Agenda for Change staff - including nurses, midwives, paramedics, allied health professionals, porters and others - will be offered an average 6.5% increase in pay in 2023/24.

This pay offer includes the commitment to deliver the most progressive package of terms and conditions reform in decades.

The offer also includes the commitment to modernising Agenda for Change, which was introduced nearly 20 years ago, to support workforce recruitment, sustainability and retention.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said, "We have engaged extensively with trade union representatives over recent weeks, leaving no stone unturned to reach an offer which responds to the key concerns of staff. Our healthcare staff have shown how dedicated and hardworking they are time and again and I cannot thank them enough for their commitment, particularly over the last few challenging years.

"Over the two years of this £1 billion of increased investment in NHS Agenda for Change, a newly qualified nurse would see their pay increase by 15.8%, and experienced nurses at the top of band 5 would see their pay improve by over £4,700.

"This ensures that Scotland's NHS Agenda for Change staff are, by far and away, the best paid anywhere in the UK. In fact, for NHS England to catch-up with Scotland the UK Government would need to offer increases in 2023/24 of over 14% at the top of band 5, over 13% at the top of band 6, and over 12% at the top of band 7.

“We have taken difficult decisions to find this money within the health budget because we know that our staff are the very backbone of the NHS and we are committed to supporting them, particularly during a cost of living crisis. I am grateful for the continued efforts around the table and that the trade unions will now put this to their members."

BACKGROUND

A total of £568 million has been committed for Agenda for Change pay in 2023/24. This equates to an average uplift of at least 6.5% for all staff at Band 8a and below.

All staff will also receive a one-off pro rata payment of between £387 and £939 depending on banding.

The offer also reaffirms previous commitments to work to reduce the working week, protect learning time and review band 5 job nursing profiles.

Examples of increases over the 2 years (2022/23 and 2023/24):

experienced porters (band 2) receive more than £3,750 extra (19.1%)
experienced healthcare support workers (band 4) receive more than £4,000 extra. experienced AHPs (band 5) receive more than £4,700 extra (14.4%)
experience paramedics (band 6) receive more than £5,360 extra (13.2%)
experienced advance nurse practitioners (band 7) receive more than £5,900 extra (12.4%)