Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are the maximum hourly rates for NHS (1) agency consultants, (2) doctors, and (3) nurses.

For agency medical consultants, maximum hourly rates are determined by NHS England’s price cap, which includes worker pay and all expenses such as travel and accommodation. The current level is £80.61 or £107.47 for unsocial hours, defined as those outside of 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday and bank holidays. There are exceptions, including for circumstances concerning patient safety and suitable rates for extra-contractual working hours are agreed locally.

For doctors employed on nationally agreed terms and conditions, the highest hourly pay rate is that of a medical consultant. The hourly basic pay rate based on 40 hours per week for a consultant at the maximum of the pay scale is £57.12 per hour. This does not include enhancements for working unsocial hours.

The majority of National Health Service nurses are paid on the Agenda for Change contract at bands 5 to 7, although the highest is band 9. Nurses at the maximum of band 9 earn £55.99 per hour. This refers to basic pay and does not include allowances or premiums for unsocial hours or the High Cost Area Supplement. In 2015, measures to reduce agency spend were introduced, including price caps, procurement frameworks and expenditure ceilings. These have contributed to the reduction of spending on agency staff from £3.6 billion in 2015/16 to £2.4 billion in 2020/21.