NHS staff

Fact checks including NHS staff levels and NHS pay

3 July 2023

Diane Abbott understated pay of NHS England boss

The MP said that Amanda Pritchard earns £86,000. But her annual earnings in 2021/22 were actually more like £255,000.

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Diane Abbott understated pay of NHS England boss
8 June 2023

NHS dentist statistics don’t support PM’s claim that there are over 500 more ‘this year’

Rishi Sunak claimed NHS dentist numbers have increased by more than 500 “this year” compared with “last year”—but he appears to have been quoting figures for 2021/22.

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NHS dentist statistics don’t support PM’s claim that there are over 500 more ‘this year’
17 May 2023

Would a 35% pay uplift for junior doctors cost £1 billion or £2 billion?

A Labour MP quoted BMA figures claiming junior doctor “pay restoration” would cost £1 billion, but the health secretary said it would cost £2 billion.

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Would a 35% pay uplift for junior doctors cost £1 billion or £2 billion?
10 May 2023

Four claims about GP numbers fact checked

The launch of the government’s new primary care plan prompted a raft of apparently contradictory claims about GP numbers.

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Four claims about GP numbers fact checked
26 April 2023

How do junior doctors’ pay demands compare with MPs’ recent salary rises?

Some claims made during the recent strike used a mix of cash-terms and real-terms figures.

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How do junior doctors’ pay demands compare with MPs’ recent salary rises?
30 March 2023

Are GP numbers rising or falling?

Earlier this month the PM claimed there are now a “record number” of GPs, while the Liberal Democrats say the number’s down since the last election.

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Are GP numbers rising or falling?
15 March 2023

The average junior doctor gets paid more than £14 an hour

A BMA advertisement says that a junior doctor makes just £14.09 per hour. This might be true in some cases, but on average junior doctors earn much more.

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The average junior doctor gets paid more than £14 an hour
22 December 2022

Is the NHS Pay Review Body ‘independent’?

With many NHS workers on strike, some unions have challenged the independence of its pay review body. We take a look at the facts behind some of the main claims.

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Is the NHS Pay Review Body ‘independent’?
25 November 2022

Steve Barclay’s figure for new nurses’ pay includes extra earnings

The health secretary said that a new nurse will typically earn over £31,000 a year on current pay. This is an estimate that includes extra earnings such as overtime. Basic …

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Steve Barclay’s figure for new nurses’ pay includes extra earnings
12 October 2022

NHS pay award will increase pay for nurses by 72p per hour

At Prime Minister’s Questions Labour MP Ian Lavery said nurses had been given a '72p a week pay rise'. The pay award offered to most NHS staff actually amounts to …

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NHS pay award will increase pay for nurses by 72p per hour

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