Band 5 nursing role review
NHS England has now written to all NHS trusts with further information and detail about the required band 5 nursing role review that formed part of the government’s commitments for a “fairer deal for nursing” announced in February this year.
The requirement for trusts to review all their band 5 nursing roles should be seen alongside previous government statements regarding the importance of robust job evaluation practice and ongoing work to build capacity and restore confidence in job evaluation.
“Staff should expect to be paid correctly for the work that they are asked to deliver by their employer, as is their contractual right”
- Rt Hon Wes Streeting - April 2025
It also follows guidance published by the NHS Staff Council in June 2025 following the publication of updated job matching profiles for nursing and midwifery. This guidance details the steps necessary for organisations to ensure their nursing job descriptions are accurate and up to date, so that pay banding can be determined correctly ad recommends that trusts prioritise nurses employed on band 5.
We are currently working with the NHS Staff Council’s Job Evaluation Group (JEG) to provide targeted guidance to support this work and have created a dedicated web page for relevant information.
Further information
- Read NHS England's nursing band 5 job evaluation letter.
- Read the “fairer deal for nursing” letter.
- Full details on the NHS Job Evaluation Scheme can be found on our website.
