Labour and the Liberal Democrats are promising to end the 1% cap on NHS pay increases.
But that cap doesn’t necessarily reflect the earnings of individual NHS workers. As people move up pay bands, they will earn more even though the salary for that pay band hasn’t moved much.
On the specifics of her figure, Mrs May might be referring to a report last month from the NHS Pay Review Body. It researches and makes recommendations on the pay of staff employed in the NHS except doctors, dentists and “very senior managers”. The report said that:
We’ve asked the Department of Health about the figures.
Average earnings per person in the English NHS was £31,300 in the 12 months to December 2016, 0.7% more than the previous year. Inflation was 1.8% over the same period.
This average includes all staff, from consultants to cleaners, so there’s a lot of variation. It’s also the mean, so a few people earning a lot can make it much higher.
Doctors earned an average of £76,000, ambulance staff £36,000, and nurses, midwives and health visitors £31,000.
On the non-clinical side cleaners and maintenance staff earned an average of £17,000, managers £49,000 and senior managers £76,000.