Senior managers have experienced sustained real-terms pay erosion since 2019, falling behind both inflation and wider earnings growth, according to the latest report for the NHS Pay Review Body.
The report, published this month, also reveals that senior managers fared worse than most staff employed at other Agenda for Change bands over that period.
Most notably, those designated as managers saw their earnings per head increased in cash terms by 10 percentage points more than their senior colleagues (35 per cent compared to 25 per cent) between September 2019 and October 2025.
HSJ writes that senior managers saw average earnings rise 25 per cent in cash terms to £99,282 between 2019 and 2025, according to the NPRB.
Over the same period, consumer price index inflation increased by 29 per cent, while “whole-economy average weekly earnings per head” (AWE), the official statistic to reflect how salaries are faring, rose by 36 per cent.
During the 2019-2025 period, all other non-clinical NHS staff paid under AfC saw pay deals in line with inflation or a real-terms increase in their pay.
Date: 18 February