SoR members in Wales vote to accept NHS pay award

SoR members based in Wales have “decisively” voted to accept the latest NHS Wales pay award offer, a move that will raise radiographers’ salaries by 5.5 per cent.

The Welsh government announced the pay award for staff under the NHS Agenda for Change structure in September.

This pay increase will cover all bands and will be backdated to 1 April 2024. During a recent SoR consultation, it was revealed that 81 per cent of SoR members working in Wales supported the pay increase. The SoR UK Council has also recommended accepting the pay award.

The award formed part of the recommendations from the independent NHS Pay Review Body.

Moving in the right direction

Caroline Hurley, SoR National Officer for Wales, said the pay increase is just the first step in a long process to ensure steady recruitment and support of radiographers.

"While this pay increase is encouraging, it is only the beginning of a much-needed journey to recruit and retain enough radiographers to serve our patients effectively,” she told members.

"We’ve long advocated that improved pay is part of the solution to recruitment and retention challenges, and it’s heartening to see the government recognise this. We will continue urging them to take further steps to address these issues.”

NHS England pay award offer

In September, SoR members working within NHS England also voted to accept a 5.5 per cent pay rise. In total, 84 per cent of SoR members working within NHS England voted in favour of the increase.

Currently, NHS pay in Wales is 1.5 per cent higher than in England, a result of union negotiations in the past two years.

Radiography manifesto

A key demand included in the SoR’s Radiography Manifesto - which was published in March - was to implement pay restoration to 2008 levels. It also called for an improvement to the starting rate of pay and inflation-proofing for future pay awards.

The manifesto was created to provide “practical, realistic and positive solutions” to the NHS workforce crisis.