NHS pay rise 2022/23
The 2022/23 pay deal applied to all staff on Agenda for Change contracts. Each UK nation publishes its own circular: England and Wales follow the Pay Review Body recommendation, Scotland negotiates separately, and Northern Ireland implements once the Executive has signed off.
How the 2022/23 deal landed
The 2022/23 pay round delivered a flat £1,400 consolidated uplift to Bands 1 through 8c, with 4% for Band 8d and 3.5% for Band 9. The flat element was worth more in percentage terms to lower-paid staff (around 9% for Band 2 entry) and less to higher earners.
The NHS Pay Review Body recommended a £1,400 flat uplift for Bands 1 to 8c rather than a percentage, reasoning that lower-paid staff faced the worst cost-of-living pressures. The UK Government accepted the recommendation, with Bands 8d and 9 getting smaller percentage uplifts of 4% and 3.5% respectively. Scotland followed a similar flat-payment model with slightly higher headline figures. The implementation was complicated by the wide range of pay points being moved differently.
Uplift by nation
-
England
Pay scale
Effective 2022-04-01
-
Scotland
Pay scale
Effective 2022-04-01
-
Wales
Not published yet
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Northern Ireland
Not published yet
Cash impact at the most-searched bands
For staff in England, the 2022/23 pay rise translates into the following annual cash increases at entry to the most common bands.
| Band | 2021/22 entry | 2022/23 entry | Change | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 5 | £25,655 | £27,055 | +£1,400 | +5.5% |
| Band 6 | £32,306 | £33,706 | +£1,400 | +4.3% |
| Band 7 | £40,057 | £41,659 | +£1,602 | +4.0% |
Union response to the 2022/23 deal
The 2022/23 settlement was rejected by the major NHS unions but went ahead anyway because the formal Pay Review Body process does not require union agreement. The rejection laid the groundwork for the strike action that followed in late 2022 and early 2023, as unions argued that the flat uplift fell far behind double-digit inflation and represented a meaningful real-terms pay cut at every band.
Structural changes
Pay scales were reshuffled because the flat £1,400 uplift produced different percentage increases at different points. Band 2 entry moved up roughly 9% (from £18,546 to £20,270), while Band 8c top moved up under 2%. Band 8d and 9 used percentage uplifts (4% and 3.5%), introducing a discontinuity in how staff were treated based purely on which side of an arbitrary line they fell on.
England
Pay scales for 2022/23 [Archived] — NHS Employers
| Band | Minimum | Steps | Maximum | Hourly at top |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 1 closed | £20,270 | 1 | Single rate | £10.37 |
| Band 2 | £20,270 | 2 | £21,318 | £10.90 |
| Band 3 | £21,730 | 2 | £23,177 | £11.85 |
| Band 4 | £23,949 | 2 | £26,282 | £13.44 |
| Band 5 | £27,055 | 3 | £32,934 | £16.84 |
| Band 6 | £33,706 | 3 | £40,588 | £20.76 |
| Band 7 | £41,659 | 3 | £47,672 | £24.38 |
| Band 8a | £48,526 | 2 | £54,619 | £27.93 |
| Band 8b | £56,164 | 2 | £65,262 | £33.38 |
| Band 8c | £67,064 | 2 | £77,274 | £39.52 |
| Band 8d | £79,592 | 2 | £91,787 | £46.94 |
| Band 9 | £95,135 | 2 | £109,475 | £55.99 |
England pay scales for 2022/23, effective 2022-04-01. Hourly rate uses the 37.5-hour NHS working week. Source: Pay scales for 2022/23 [Archived] — NHS Employers.
Scotland
PCS(AFC)2023/2 Annex A — 2022/23 baseline rates
| Band | Minimum | Steps | Maximum | Hourly at top |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 1 closed | £21,692 | 1 | Single rate | £11.09 |
| Band 2 | £21,814 | 2 | £23,820 | £12.18 |
| Band 3 | £23,914 | 2 | £25,808 | £13.20 |
| Band 4 | £25,914 | 2 | £28,187 | £14.42 |
| Band 5 | £28,384 | 3 | £35,365 | £18.09 |
| Band 6 | £35,522 | 3 | £43,286 | £22.14 |
| Band 7 | £43,422 | 3 | £50,506 | £25.83 |
| Band 8a | £53,513 | 2 | £57,767 | £29.54 |
| Band 8b | £63,530 | 2 | £68,223 | £34.89 |
| Band 8c | £75,711 | 2 | £81,426 | £41.64 |
| Band 8d | £90,590 | 2 | £94,629 | £48.39 |
| Band 9 | £107,840 | 2 | £112,673 | £57.62 |
Scotland pay scales for 2022/23, effective 2022-04-01. Hourly rate uses the 37.5-hour NHS working week. Source: PCS(AFC)2023/2 Annex A — 2022/23 baseline rates.
Common questions about the 2022/23 pay rise
- When was the 2022/23 NHS pay rise paid?
- The new England pay rates were backdated to 2022-04-01. In most Trusts the new rate first showed in monthly pay a few months after the official circular was published, with arrears for the backdated period paid alongside the first new monthly rate. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland followed their own implementation timetables.
- Did Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland get the same pay rise in 2022/23?
- Each UK nation negotiates separately. England and Wales usually follow the NHS Pay Review Body recommendation, Scotland negotiates directly with trade unions, and Northern Ireland needs Executive sign-off. The headline percentage and the structural shape of the deal can differ between nations.
- Why was the 2022/23 deal a flat £1,400 rather than a percentage?
- The Pay Review Body recommended a flat uplift on the basis that the cost-of-living pressures of 2022 hit lower-paid staff disproportionately hard. A 4% rise on a Band 2 salary would have been roughly £750, which was widely judged as inadequate compared to the £1,400 flat alternative. The trade-off was that higher-paid staff got proportionately less.
- Why did Band 8d and 9 get a different uplift?
- The PRB recommended that Bands 8d and 9 receive percentage uplifts (4% and 3.5%) rather than the flat £1,400, on the basis that a £1,400 uplift was a smaller percentage for already-high earners. Critics argued the inconsistency between Band 8c and Band 8d was hard to justify.