The PDA and 13 other unions have written jointly to health secretary Wes Streeting urging him to honour a commitment made last year to tackle problems in the NHS pay system that are harming staffing and morale.
The unions, collectively known as the NHS Staff Side Council, say the ‘Agenda for Change’ contracts should now be widened to include the headline pay award for 2026, which would need to be decided early next year if it is to be paid on time in April, as ministers have committed to do.
The council said that NHS employees' trust and confidence in the current pay process, involving a time-consuming pay review body (PRB), has hit rock bottom and a more efficient approach is needed for the coming year.
That means setting aside the PRB process and focusing on comprehensive talks backed by sufficient investment from ministers to facilitate a deal.
This must be enough to cover the cost of reforming pay bands and an acceptable pay increase.
Most NHS workers received a pay rise this year that was significantly lower than the one given to doctors and dentists, and which has now slipped below the level of inflation.
The staff side - representing more than a million NHS workers - say discontent with the 2025 pay award and the broken promises on talks have “heightened industrial tension” and time is running out.
As a result, all NHS unions, barring one, have on Friday (19) announced they will not participate in the next pay review body process for 2026/27.
This year’s pay rise of 3.6 percent was lower than almost all public sector wage increases decided through pay review bodies.
And with CPI inflation standing at 3.8 percent, unions point out pay is being outstripped by the rising cost of living.
The unions say this is further evidence of how the current pay review body (PRB) process is not fit for purpose.
Meanwhile, problems have mounted with the current Agenda for Change system put in place two decades ago.
The absence of regular negotiations means these have not been addressed. Pay bands need to be adjusted to ensure skills and responsibilities are correctly rewarded, the unions point out.
They say it makes little sense to tackle pay rises and structural adjustments separately when a streamlined process would be more efficient.
The unions say they will focus their efforts on pushing for extra “meaningful funding” to reform Agenda for Change, in addition to ensuring NHS workers get the decent pay rise they deserve.
PDA union director and national lead for PDA in the NHS staff side Paul Day said, “Just as each NHS employee has a more effective voice through being part of a union for their profession, so the joint efforts of all our unions collaborating through the NHS Staff Side Council can influence government and NHS employers overall.
While the PDA is focused exclusively on pharmacists, our joint letter to the health secretary highlights concerns that matter to every employee on an agenda for change contract."
