NHS Pay Rise Delivered In April For Scotland

23rd March 2023

Healthcare staff will begin to benefit from largest overall investment in Agenda for Change pay in a single year from next month, following unions' unanimous agreement.

160,000 NHS staff - including nurses, midwives, paramedics, allied health professionals, porters and others – will receive an average 6.5% increase in pay in 2023-24.

This £568 million deal includes a commitment to deliver the most progressive package of terms and conditions reform in decades and support for workforce recruitment, sustainability and retention.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said:

"I am very pleased that the Agenda for Change trade unions have unanimously agreed to accept this pay offer, meaning staff will start seeing the benefits of this deal in their April pay packets.

“This £568 million deal that will ensure NHS Agenda for Change staff remain, by far and away, the best paid anywhere in the UK. We are also committed to delivering the most progressive package of terms and conditions reform in decades.

“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. 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 to keep discussions going to reach this deal and that this has been able to be processed in time to get the money to staff so quickly."

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 two 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%)
experienced 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%)