NHS basic pay

Published 27 September 2018

Last updated 14 May 2019 - see all updates

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Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• across the whole NHS workforce in January 2018, Black men and women had lower average (mean) monthly basic pay than White men and women – Black men were paid 84p for every £1 received by White men, and Black women were paid 93p for every £1 received by White women
• across the whole workforce, men and women in the Asian, Mixed and Other ethnic groups had higher average monthly pay than those in the White group; however when comparing staff in similar roles, White staff had higher average pay than those in all other ethnic groups (except among female infrastructure support staff, where Mixed ethnicity staff had the highest average pay)
• within both medical roles (doctors in hospitals and community health services) and non-medical roles, White men and women had the highest average monthly basic pay out of all ethnic groups – the ethnicity pay gap was largest for Black women in medical roles and Black men in non-medical roles
• men and women from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups working in the 4 non-medical staff groups had lower average monthly basic pay than their White counterparts (except for women from the Mixed and Asian ethnic groups in infrastructure support roles) – the largest ethnicity pay gap was seen among managers and senior managers, where Black men were paid 80p for every £1 received by White men
• in the NHS workforce as a whole, and in both medical and non-medical roles, women had lower average monthly basic pay than men – this pattern was seen in most ethnic groups, with the main exception being Black non-medical staff, where women were paid £1.03 for every £1 received by men
• out of the 4 non-medical staff groups, the gender pay gap was largest among managers and senior managers in the Asian ethnic group, where on average women were paid 89p for every £1 received by men
• in general, pay gaps between ethnic groups, and between men and women in the same ethnic group, were smaller in non-medical roles than in the medical roles

Things you need to know

This data includes all staff directly employed by the NHS in foundation trusts, clinical commissioning groups, and central and support organisations in England.

The data doesn’t include:

• staff working in primary care, like dentists in dental practices and GPs
• agency staff and contractors

Two NHS foundation trusts don’t use the Electronic Staff Record, the NHS’s main human resources and payroll system, and their data isn’t included here.

The figures shown here are based on a single month’s data. NHS staff may have been paid a different amount in that month compared with other months of the year, and the month used may not be representative of staff’s usual monthly basic pay.

This data is based on mean basic pay, rather than median. The mean was worked out by adding all staff’s full time equivalent (FTE) pay, and dividing the total by the number of staff. If the median had been used, it is likely that the pay gaps would be smaller as the median is less affected by extreme values. Median basic pay can be calculated using NHS Digital’s analysis tool.

Although this data shows average monthly basic pay for the medical workforce as a whole, doctors’ pay varies substantially by grade. For example, junior doctors in foundation year 1 have a basic pay of £26,614 a year, compared with £76,761 to £103,490 a year for consultants.

Data on the NHS workforce shows that the number and percentage of staff in each pay grade and type of role (medical or non-medical) varies by the different ethnic groups. An ethnic group with a higher percentage of staff in more highly-paid NHS roles (for example, medical roles) or with a higher percentage of staff on more senior pay grades will have a higher average pay than a group with more staff in junior or less highly-paid roles.

For example, this data shows that staff in the Asian, Mixed and Other ethnic groups had a higher average monthly basic pay than White staff when the whole NHS workforce is considered. However, the opposite was found when comparing staff within both medical roles and non-medical roles, with White staff paid more than staff in the Asian, Mixed and Other ethnic groups. This arises from variations in the percentage of staff at higher paid grades within the different ethnic groups in both medical and non-medical roles.

Ethnicity was not known for 4.7% of NHS staff. Staff whose ethnicity wasn’t known are shown in the category ‘Unknown’ in the tables.

What the data measures

This data shows the average (mean) monthly basic pay per for NHS staff working in NHS trusts, clinical commissioning groups, and central and support organisations in England.

The data is broken down by ethnicity, gender, type of role (medical or non-medical), and by the 4 non-medical broad staff groups.

Data on pay has been calculated using each staff member’s full-time equivalent (FTE) salary. For example, if someone works 2.5 days per week and earns £12,000, their FTE salary is £24,000.

Basic pay excludes overtime, bonuses, extra pay for working unsocial hours, and geographic allowances like London weighting. Other payments like expenses, sick pay and parental leave pay are not included.

The data first shows the differences between ethnic groups in the average basic monthly pay received by male and female NHS staff, and then looks at the ethnicity pay gap for each ethnic group relative to White men and women. The data then focuses on the gender pay gap and how that differs between the different ethnic groups.

We have illustrated the ethnicity pay gap by presenting the amount each ethnic group received on average for every £1 paid to those in the White group. For example, on average, Black men were paid 84p for every £1 received by White men, which is a difference of 16 pence (equivalent to a pay gap of 16%). This pay gap is calculated by dividing the average basic pay of Black men by that of White men.

Because it is known there are differences in pay between men and women, the ethnicity pay gap has been calculated for men and women separately.

We have similarly illustrated the gender pay gap by dividing the average basic pay of women by that of men. We’ve done this for each ethnic group so we can see how the gender pay gap differs between ethnicities.

‘Medical’ staff are doctors working for hospitals and community health services.

‘Non-medical’ staff are split into the following broad staff groups:

• professionally qualified non-medical staff – nurses and health visitors, ambulance staff, midwives, and scientific, therapeutic and technical staff
• support to clinical staff – staff whose role is to support either doctors and nurses, ambulance staff, or scientific, therapeutic and technical staff
• managers and senior managers
• infrastructure support – staff working in hotel, property and estates, and central functions

Most non-medical staff are on the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale. Medical staff are on a separate pay scale for doctors.

The ethnic categories used in this data

The data uses the broad ethnic categories from the 2011 Census:

• Asian/Asian British
• Black/African/ Caribbean/Black British
• Mixed/Multiple ethnicities
• White
• Other

2. By ethnicity and gender (all staff)

• Location: England
• Time period: January 2018
• Source: NHS Workforce Statistics January 2018

NHS staff average monthly basic pay per FTE and ethnicity pay gap, by gender

	Average (mean) monthly basic pay per FTE		Average pay for every £1 paid to White staff
Ethnicity	Average (mean) monthly basic pay per FTE Female	Average (mean) monthly basic pay per FTE Male	Average pay for every £1 paid to White staff Female	Average pay for every £1 paid to White staff Male
All	£2,423	£3,157	N/A*	N/A*
Asian	£2,637	£3,764	£1.10	£1.24
Black	£2,242	£2,551	93p	84p
Mixed	£2,407	£3,145	£1.00	£1.04
Other	£2,590	£3,691	£1.08	£1.22
Unknown	£2,491	£3,369	£1.03	£1.11
White	£2,407	£3,034	N/A*	N/A*

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of NHS basic pay By ethnicity and gender (all staff) Summary

This data shows that:

• overall, in January 2018, the average (mean) monthly basic pay for NHS staff was £2,423 for women and £3,157 for men
• on average, staff from the Asian ethnic group had the highest monthly basic pay for both men and women, at £3,764 for men and £2,637 for women; Black staff had the lowest monthly basic pay, at £2,551 for men and £2,242 for women
• men and women in the Asian and Other ethnic groups, and men in the Mixed group, had higher basic pay on average than those in the White group
• only staff in the Black ethnic group had lower monthly basic pay than White staff – Black men were paid 84p for every £1 received by White men, and Black women were paid 93p for every £1 received by White women

3. By ethnicity and gender (medical staff)

• Location: England
• Time period: January 2018
• Source: NHS Workforce Statistics January 2018

NHS medical staff average monthly basic pay per FTE and ethnicity pay gap, by gender

	Average (mean) monthly basic pay per FTE		Average pay for every £1 paid to White staff
Ethnicity	Average (mean) monthly basic pay per FTE Female	Average (mean) monthly basic pay per FTE Male	Average pay for every £1 paid to White staff Female	Average pay for every £1 paid to White staff Male
All	£4,897	£5,703	N/A*	N/A*
Asian	£4,760	£5,636	93p	95p
Black	£4,303	£5,142	84p	87p
Mixed	£4,387	£5,017	86p	85p
Other	£4,652	£5,564	91p	94p
Unknown	£4,401	£5,145	86p	87p
White	£5,104	£5,934	N/A*	N/A*

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of NHS basic pay By ethnicity and gender (medical staff) Summary

This data shows that:

• overall, in January 2018, the average (mean) monthly basic pay for NHS medical staff (doctors working for hospitals and community health services) was £4,897 for women and £5,703 for men
• average monthly basic pay ranged from £5,017 among male doctors from the Mixed group to £5,934 among White male doctors; and from £4,303 among Black female doctors to £5,104 among White female doctors
• female doctors from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups were paid between 84p and 93p for every £1 received by White female doctors, and male doctors from the same ethnic groups were paid between 85p and 95p for every £1 received by White male doctors
• in the Asian, Black and Other ethnic groups, the pay gap compared with White doctors was wider for female doctors than for male doctors

4. By ethnicity and gender (non-medical staff)

• Location: England
• Time period: January 2018
• Source: NHS Workforce Statistics January 2018

NHS non-medical staff average monthly basic pay per FTE and ethnicity pay gap, by gender

	Average (mean) monthly basic pay per FTE		Average pay for every £1 paid to White staff
Ethnicity	Average (mean) monthly basic pay per FTE Female	Average (mean) monthly basic pay per FTE Male	Average pay for every £1 paid to White staff Female	Average pay for every £1 paid to White staff Male
All	£2,276	£2,429	N/A*	N/A*
Asian	£2,209	£2,251	96p	91p
Black	£2,160	£2,098	94p	84p
Mixed	£2,171	£2,223	95p	90p
Other	£2,252	£2,245	98p	90p
Unknown	£2,265	£2,566	99p	£1.03
White	£2,293	£2,483	N/A*	N/A*

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of NHS basic pay By ethnicity and gender (non-medical staff) Summary

This data shows that:

• overall, in January 2018, the average (mean) monthly basic pay for NHS staff in non-medical roles (which includes nurses, midwives, and support to clinical staff) was £2,276 for women and £2,429 for men
• White men had the highest average monthly basic pay of all non-medical staff (where ethnicity was known), at £2,483, and Black men had the lowest, at £2,098
• differences in average monthly basic pay between ethnic groups were smaller among women than men; but White women still had the highest basic pay of all women, at £2,293, and Black women had the lowest, at £2,160
• among non-medical staff, men from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups were paid between 84p and 91p for every £1 paid to White men, and women were paid between 94p and 98p for every £1 paid to White women
• for both women and men, Black non-medical staff had the largest pay gap compared to White non-medical staff (94p for every £1 received by White women and 84p for every £1 received by White men)

5. By ethnicity, gender, and broad staff groups

• Location: England
• Time period: January 2018
• Source: NHS Workforce Statistics January 2018

Average monthly basic pay per FTE of NHS non-medical staff, and ethnicity pay gap, within broad staff groups, by gender

	Professionally qualified non-medical		Support to clinical staff		Managers and senior managers		Infrastructure support
Ethnicity	Professionally qualified non-medical Female	Professionally qualified non-medical Male	Support to clinical staff Female	Support to clinical staff Male	Managers and senior managers Female	Managers and senior managers Male	Infrastructure support Female	Infrastructure support Male
Average (mean) monthly basic pay per FTE
All	£2,709	£2,759	£1,603	£1,603	£4,679	£5,198	£1,908	£2,064
Asian	£2,540	£2,634	£1,551	£1,556	£4,241	£4,790	£1,912	£2,025
Black	£2,538	£2,592	£1,565	£1,553	£4,218	£4,187	£1,861	£1,875
Mixed	£2,575	£2,672	£1,566	£1,585	£4,341	£4,772	£1,950	£1,984
White	£2,748	£2,799	£1,610	£1,615	£4,698	£5,218	£1,909	£2,080
Other	£2,624	£2,734	£1,548	£1,561	£4,415	£4,579	£1,823	£1,807
Unknown	£2,624	£2,698	£1,602	£1,646	£5,111	£5,903	£1,933	£2,171
Average pay for every £1 paid to White staff
All -	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*
Asian -	92p	94p	96p	96p	90p	92p	£1.00	97p
Black -	92p	93p	97p	96p	90p	80p	97p	90p
Mixed -	94p	95p	97p	98p	92p	91p	£1.02	95p
White -	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*
Other -	95p	98p	96p	97p	94p	88p	95p	87p
Unknown -	95p	96p	£1.00	£1.02	£1.09	£1.13	£1.01	£1.04

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of NHS basic pay By ethnicity, gender, and broad staff groups Summary

This data shows that:

• overall, in January 2018, the average (mean) basic pay for non-medical staff varied according to the type of role, with managers and senior managers on average earning the most (£5,198 for men and £4,679 for women) and support to clinical staff the least (£1,603 for both men and women)
• in most cases, White staff were the highest paid out of all ethnic groups when comparing non-medical staff in similar roles – the exceptions were for female infrastructure support staff, where those from the Mixed ethnic group were paid £1.02 for every £1 received by their White counterparts and those from the Asian group were paid a similar amount
• the ethnicity pay gap was generally larger among managers and senior managers compared with other types of non-medical role
• the largest ethnicity pay gap was found among male managers and senior managers, where Black men were paid 80p for every £1 received by White men (£4,187 for Black men, compared with £5,218 for White men)

6. Gender pay gap by type of role

• Location: England
• Time period: January 2018
• Source: NHS Workforce Statistics January 2018

NHS staff average monthly basic pay per FTE by ethnicity and type of role, including gender pay gap (pay received by women for every £1 received by men)

	All staff average monthly basic pay			Medical staff average monthly basic pay			Non-medical staff average monthly basic pay
Ethnicity	All staff average monthly basic pay Female	All staff average monthly basic pay Male	All staff average monthly basic pay Pay per £1 paid to men	Medical staff average monthly basic pay Female	Medical staff average monthly basic pay Male	Medical staff average monthly basic pay Pay per £1 paid to men	Non-medical staff average monthly basic pay Female	Non-medical staff average monthly basic pay Male	Non-medical staff average monthly basic pay Pay per £1 paid to men
All	£2,423	£3,157	77p	£4,897	£5,703	86p	£2,276	£2,429	94p
Asian	£2,637	£3,764	70p	£4,760	£5,636	84p	£2,209	£2,251	98p
Black	£2,242	£2,551	88p	£4,303	£5,142	84p	£2,160	£2,098	£1.03
Mixed	£2,407	£3,145	77p	£4,387	£5,017	87p	£2,171	£2,223	98p
White	£2,407	£3,034	79p	£5,104	£5,934	86p	£2,293	£2,483	92p
Other	£2,590	£3,691	70p	£4,652	£5,564	84p	£2,252	£2,245	£1.00
Unknown	£2,491	£3,369	74p	£4,401	£5,145	86p	£2,265	£2,566	88p

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of NHS basic pay Gender pay gap by type of role Summary

This data shows that:

• overall, in January 2018, the average (mean) monthly basic pay for all NHS staff was £2,423 for women and £3,157 for men; it was higher amongst medical staff (£4,897 for women and £5,703 for men) than non-medical staff (£2,276 for women and £2,429 for men)
• among medical staff, women earned less in basic pay on average than men in every ethnic group
• among non-medical staff, women earned less in basic pay than men in the Asian, Mixed, and White groups, but in the Black group they were paid £1.03 for every £1 received by men on average, and in the Other ethnic group they were paid a similar amount to men
• the overall gender pay gap was largest in the Asian and Other ethnic groups – in both groups, women were paid on average 70p for every £1 received by men
• the gender pay gap was larger among medical staff (from 84p to 87p for each £1 paid to men) than among non-medical staff (from 92p to £1.03 for each £1 paid to men, although this doesn’t include staff where ethnicity was unknown)
• among non-medical staff, the largest gender pay gap was found in the White ethnic group, where women were paid on average 92p for every £1 received by men

7. Gender pay gap by broad staff group

• Location: England
• Time period: January 2018
• Source: NHS Workforce Statistics January 2018

NHS non-medical staff: average monthly basic pay per FTE by gender, ethnicity and broad staff group, including gender pay gap (pay received by women for each £1 received by men)

	Infrastructure support			Managers and senior managers			Professionally qualified non-medical			Support to clinical staff
Ethnicity	Infrastructure support Female	Infrastructure support Male	Infrastructure support Pay per £1 paid to men	Managers and senior managers Female	Managers and senior managers Male	Managers and senior managers Pay per £1 paid to men	Professionally qualified non-medical Female	Professionally qualified non-medical Male	Professionally qualified non-medical Pay per £1 paid to men	Support to clinical staff Female	Support to clinical staff Male	Support to clinical staff Pay per £1 paid to men
All	£1,908	£2,064	92p	£4,679	£5,198	90p	£2,709	£2,759	98p	£1,603	£1,603	£1.00
Asian	£1,912	£2,025	94p	£4,241	£4,790	89p	£2,540	£2,634	96p	£1,551	£1,556	£1.00
Black	£1,861	£1,875	99p	£4,218	£4,187	£1.01	£2,538	£2,592	98p	£1,565	£1,553	£1.01
Mixed	£1,950	£1,984	98p	£4,341	£4,772	91p	£2,575	£2,672	96p	£1,566	£1,585	99p
White	£1,909	£2,080	92p	£4,698	£5,218	90p	£2,748	£2,799	98p	£1,610	£1,615	£1.00
Other	£1,823	£1,807	£1.01	£4,415	£4,579	96p	£2,624	£2,734	96p	£1,548	£1,561	99p
Unknown	£1,933	£2,171	89p	£5,111	£5,903	87p	£2,624	£2,698	97p	£1,602	£1,646	97p

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of NHS basic pay Gender pay gap by broad staff group Summary

This data shows that:

• overall, amongst non-medical staff, managers and senior managers had the highest average (mean) monthly basic pay in January 2018, at £4,679 for women and £5,198 for men; support to clinical staff had the lowest, at £1,603 for both men and women
• in all ethnic groups, men and women in roles supporting clinical staff were paid similar amounts
• in the other 3 broad staff groups, women were in most cases paid less than men; the 2 exceptions were among Black managers and senior managers, and infrastructure support staff from the Other ethnic group, where women were paid £1.01 for every £1 received by men
• the gender pay gap was largest amongst managers and senior managers, where women were paid on average 90p for every £1 received by men; the gap was largest in the Asian ethnic group, where women were paid 89p for every £1 received by men

8. Methodology

Data provided here is based on pay data for January 2018 collected from NHS trusts and Foundation Trusts, clinical commissioning groups, and central and support organisations using the Electronic Staff Record (ESR), the NHS’s main human resources and payroll system.

Since 2008, the system has contained staff records for over 99% of staff employed directly by the NHS in England. NHS foundation trusts are not required to use the ESR. Two of these do not, and their data is not included here.

NHS staff report their own ethnicity. Ethnicity was not known for 4.7% of NHS staff.

The data is based on a single month, January 2018, so that more staff could be included. If the data has been based on annual earnings, only staff who worked for the entire year could have been included.

Basic pay here does not include expenses, sick pay and parental leave pay, and additional pay for overtime, unsocial hours, bonuses, and geographic allowances. Excluding geographical allowances when comparing staff pay should facilitate like-for-like comparisons between ethnic groups, as staff in some ethnic groups may be more likely to be eligible for such allowances due to their location.

The pay of part-time staff has been adjusted as if they were working full time.

Earnings that fell outside of the expected range, for example due to starting a job late in the month, were removed to avoid distorting the figures.

You can find additional analysis of the data by grade and detailed staff group. This publication also provides data on total earnings, which includes other payments on top of basic pay such as overtime, unsocial hours and bonuses (but not geographic allowances).

Suppression rules and disclosure control

A small amount of data may have been suppressed if its publication could lead to individual NHS staff members being identified.

Rounding

All figures are rounded to the nearest whole number. You can see figures rounded to 4 decimal places if you download the data.

Related publications

http://digital.nhs.uk/pubs/hchsworkjun18

9. Data sources

Source

NHS Workforce Statistics January 2018

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

Official statistics

Publisher

NHS Digital

Publication frequency

Monthly

Purpose of data source

The data is extracted from NHS human resource and payroll systems. The purpose of collecting ethnicity data through these systems is to monitor equality and diversity across the NHS workforce.

10. Download the data

NHS basic pay - Spreadsheet (csv) 17 KB

This file contains the following: ethnicity, gender, type of role, broad (non-medical) staff group, mean monthly basic pay per full time equivalent (FTE), ethnicity pay gap relative to White by gender, gender pay gap relative to male by ethnicity

Publication release date: 27 September 2018

Updated: 14 May 2019

full page history

1. 14 May 2019 Some headings have been changed. No data or commentary has been updated.
2. 20 March 2019 Added in £ and pence symbols to make the pay gaps in tables easier to understand.
3. 8 March 2019 Changed how we illustrate ethnicity and gender pay gaps by showing the amount ethnic groups receive per £1 paid to the White group or to men (rather than showing a percentage).
4. 27 September 2018 First published

From: NHS Digital

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