Welsh Government criticised over delay in nurses’ pay rise

Martin Shipton

The Royal College of Nursing has criticised the Welsh Government for failing to announce the 2025-26 pay award for nurses in time for the start of the new financial year on April 1.

Officials of the RCN have made the point that nursing staff in Wales are now left out of pocket during crushing financial pressures and a derailing workforce crisis, with no further clarity on when a pay award will be announced.

They argue that the delay raises serious concerns about the Welsh Government’s commitment to ensure fair and timely pay for its health care workforce. The RCN has warned that the delay exacerbates the nursing workforce crisis at a time when vacancies remain unfilled, staff retention is plummeting, and student recruitment is in decline.

In Wales alone, there are more than 2,000 vacant nursing posts, placing further strain on patient care.

‘Unacceptable’

The RCN is calling on the Welsh Government to take urgent action to deliver the NHS pay award without further hesitation and to publicly challenge Westminster for failing to provide the necessary funding for the Welsh NHS.

Helen Whyley, executive director of RCN Wales, said: “The continued delay in announcing the NHS pay award is unacceptable. Nursing staff are essential to patient care, yet once again they find themselves at the bottom of government priorities.

“Nursing staff are the backbone of the NHS and cannot be expected to deliver the reforms needed to save it if the Welsh Government can’t even pay them fairly and on time. The Welsh Government must take responsibility and act now to ensure nursing staff receive a fair and timely pay rise. At the same time, they must hold Westminster to account for failing to properly fund NHS Wales.”

The Welsh Government responded: “We have urged the NHS Pay Review Body to provide recommendations on a pay award for 2025-26 for NHS Wales staff on Agenda for Change contracts, to ensure our valued NHS staff receive it as soon as possible.

“We hope to receive the recommendations in May.”

Pay reviews

The website nhspayscales.co.uk was created by NHS staff in 2022 to provide news and commentary about pay reviews affecting health service workers.

The latest update states: “Until the NHS Pay Review Body publishes their annual report, an exact figure for the pay increase will not be available. However, using relevant information and government policy announcements available in January 2024, we are continuing to predict a pay rise of approximately 3.5%.

“Currently, this is based on three key indicators, as well as discussions with senior NHS finance and HR professionals:

Government recommendations. In December 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) recommended a 2.8% pay rise for NHS staff. This recommendation is not the final pay award; the DHSC recommendation will be considered along with evidence from trade unions and other bodies by the independent NHS Pay Review Body, whose report is generally used to decide the final pay award for those on Agenda for Change contracts. However, it does mean that the minimum award is likely to be at least 2.8%. The NHS budget for 2025/26, which was announced in October 2024, includes allowances for overall staffing costs to rise by 3-4%, although it is important to note that not all staff groups are part of the Agenda for Change framework and some groups of clinical staff could receive higher (or lower) pay awards compared to others. Some of the difference in the budget compared to DHSC’s recommendations could also be to account for changes in the National Minimum Wage; NHS staff on Band 2 are on the National Minimum Wage so if this rises by more than 2.8% next year, these staff would legally have to have a higher pay rise.

Inflation and the economy. Many measures of inflation rose slightly towards the end of 2024, with the Consumer Price Index at 2.6% for December 2024. A below-inflation pay rise would be unpopular for the government and almost certainly trigger strike action by the unions. However, a more generous pay rise (above 5%) is also unlikely due to the lack of economic growth of the UK economy.

Trade unions and the threat of strikes. The final years of the Conservative government were plagued by strikes by NHS staff, causing disruption and delays to treatment. The Prime Minister has set a target for 92% of “routine” operations to be completed within 18 weeks by March 2029; further strikes would likely add to the already sizeable backlog of operations and make this target very difficult to achieve. While most unions and bodies such as the RCN have not gone public with specifics on the pay rise they would like for their members this year, their reaction to the DHSC-recommended 2.8% rise has been very negative – with some unions calling the suggestion “insulting”. This indicates to us that they would be likely to lobby the NHS Pay Review Body for a significantly higher pay rise – and perhaps regard a pay rise of below about 3% as enough to ballot their members for new strike action.”

Backdated

Estimating when the NHS pay rise for 2025-26 is likely to be announced, the website states: “NHS pay rises are due in time for the start of the new financial year, in April. However, in recent years, the pay rise has consistently been announced late, meaning that pay rises have had to be backdated.

“It is not expected that this year’s pay rise will be announced in time for the start of the new financial year. In September 2024, the DHSC sent a letter to the NHS Pay Review Body to begin their research into recommendations for this year’s pay rise. The letter stated that ‘it is unlikely that workforces will receive pay increases by April, but by bringing the pay round forward this year, we can more fully reset the timeline in 2026 to 2027’.

“Last year, the same letter was not sent until November. With this in mind, we are hopeful that the pay rise for this year will be announced in mid-April or May 2025.”

The Welsh Government’s statement, however, suggests that an announcement during April is unlikely.