Analysis

NHS nursing pay award for 2025-26: next steps and key dates

Nursing staff in the NHS have been given a 3.6% pay rise for 2025-26, but will that figure be acceptable to nurses, nursing associates and healthcare support workers? The award for staff on Agenda for Change contracts and agreed by ministers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is grotesque, according to one union leader, who points to the higher award given to doctors. RCNi answers questions about what happens next, and what staff in Scotland and Northern Ireland can expect too. 

Stephanie Heughan - @RCNi_Steph
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NHS pay award 2025-26: nurses stand on one side of scales, outweighing their 3.6% pay offer on the other

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