The SoR and other trade unions have shared a joint open letter to the Secretary of State for Health expressing their frustration at the 3.3 per cent pay award.
Members in England are being encouraged to sign the joint open letter, which is supported by all Agenda for Change (AfC) trade unions and professional associations, and is addressed to Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
Although no formal consultation on the award has taken place, feedback from members and reps has demonstrated a high level of frustration at another disappointing pay award.
Pressure points on pay
The joint letter focuses on the government’s failure to engage and lead negotiations to reform the AfC pay structures, which were promised throughout 2025/26.
Dean Rogers, director of industrial strategy at the SoR, said: “Any changes to the AfC pay structures will need additional funding and should happen outside any Pay Review Body process. These now need to progress quickly and in full partnership with all the unions. We will formally consult members on the outcome of any negotiations that follow around AfC structural reforms.”
The government’s continued use of the Pay Review Body (PRB) process has encouraged the SoR to continue submitting evidence each year.
This year, that evidence included highlighting the need to address National Living Wage pressures and broken pay structures for support workers, as well as non-competitive and unsustainably low starting pay for graduates.
The PRB response acknowledged and reflected the pressure points in AfC pay structures, with commitments being made to further talks on pay reform for the 2026/27 period.
However, the SoR said, the PRB is not a fully independent body, and a 3.3 per cent pay award does little to close the pay gap that has opened between NHS pay and the rest of the economy since 2008, Dean added.
'A workforce properly supported'
The letter reads: “No one wants the NHS to recover more than the staff who deliver it. But that requires a workforce properly supported to give its best. Your 10-year plan aspires to make the NHS 'the country's best employer'. NHS staff now call on you to take the first step: recognise the problems with NHS pay and provide sufficient funding so unions and employers can agree how to fix them.”
Full text of the letter, and where members can add their signature, can be found online here.
Members in Wales and Northern Ireland are not included in the request to sign this letter as health is devolved to differen ministers.
Guidance to members in Wales on how they can promote the radiography case during the elections this May will follow shortly. Members in Northern Ireland will be advised separately on possible activity, aligned with updates on when the 2026-27 award may be paid.
(Image: Dean Rogers, executive director for industrial strategy at the SoR)