RCN calls for urgent start of talks on pay and AfC reform

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has confirmed that it will not be taking part in the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) process for 2026/27, and is calling for discussions with government on pay to begin urgently.

The union has cited criticism of the pay review body in recent years, and is instead looking for direct negotiations with government.

The RCN said it has now joined other NHS unions in writing to health secretary Wes Streeting to call for the start of talks on a 2026/27 NHS pay award, which would be alongside discussion of ‘long overdue’ reforms to Agenda for Change (AfC) pay structures, telling ministers that there is ‘no excuse for wasting more time’.

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This is the first time that the majority of NHS unions have confirmed they will not take part in the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) process, the nursing union shared. A statement said: ‘The RCN will again refuse to submit evidence and has been severely critical of the PRB over recent years’.

The RCN argues that current pay structures leave many nursing professionals at the bottom of pay bands, with little opportunity for progression or recognition of their increasingly autonomous roles.

Among the key reforms sought by the RCN are faster progression from Band 5 to Band 6 for nursing staff, improved starting salaries, and transparent career pathways to support retention and morale across the NHS.

Jo Galbraith-Marten, RCN executive director of legal and member relations, stressed the need for the start of negotiations and reform.

‘Ministers promised talks on reform over a year ago. Since then, nursing staff delivered another damning verdict on pay. There is no excuse for wasting more time, we need formal negotiations now.

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‘Nursing has changed beyond recognition. It is a more skilled and autonomous profession, with much more responsibility.

‘But the profession is still rooted to the bottom of the pay scale and unable to progress, with nursing pay stuck in a time warp as if the last 20 years of progress didn’t happen.

Ms Galbraith-Marten added: ‘The only way to recruit and retain the nursing staff we need is to deliver Agenda for Change structural reform.’

In July, RCN members in England rejected the government’s pay award for 2025/26 in record numbers,

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This also follows calls earlier this month from the RCN and the British Medical Association’s (BMA) General Practitioners Committee England (GPCE) for immediate action to ensure that all general practice nurses receive their promised pay uplifts this month, backdated to April.