What was claimed
The salary for an NHS diversity officer is £96,000.
Our verdict
NHS diversity officers seem to generally start at around £25,000 in the NHS in England, but we’ve also found examples of roles that pay up to £81,000.
NHS diversity officers don’t all make £96,000
What was claimed
The starting salary for an NHS nurse is £28,400 a year.
Our verdict
This figure is correct in England. Some people may earn more than others depending on experience and qualifications. While average nursing pay is around £38,000, the most senior nurses can earn up to around £114,000.
A number of posts on social media have suggested the salary for an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) officer in the NHS is £96,000, and compare this to an NHS nurse’s starting salary of £28,400. But this comparison is misleading.
False or misleading claims online have the potential to harm individuals, groups and democratic processes and institutions. Online claims can spread fast and far, and are difficult to contain and correct.
It isn’t clear whether this £96,000 figure refers to an average or top salary for an EDI officer, but it’s certainly not the starting salary in England.
Comparing the two professions’ starting rates shows they’re actually very similar, and an EDI officer’s can be lower due to the NHS’s use of salary bands.
The NHS payscale in England starts at £22,383 per year in 2023/24, at what’s called the Band 2 level. The highest pay band, Band 9, has an entry point salary of £99,891. Staff are able to receive a pay rise within their band, but are required to work a certain number of years before they are eligible.
A newly qualified nurse will typically start at £28,407 (Band 5), and can rise to £34,581 after four years. And depending on experience and qualifications, the most senior nurses, such as a consultant level nurse, might earn £99,891 (Band 9), rising to £114,949 after five years.
These figures all refer to the 2023/24 payscale as those were the most recent available when the posts were published. Figures for 2024/25 have since been published.
The average annual basic pay for a nurse or health visitor in March 2024 was estimated to be the equivalent of £38,713 for a full-time role.
Salaries for EDI officers are much more varied, but looking at job listings indicates that some start at £25,147 (Band 4), which rises to £27,596 after three years. Others can start at higher bands. An NHS England spokesperson told fact checkers at Reuters that salaries are set by NHS providers and so can vary between regions.
And, as is the case for more senior nurses, senior EDI roles such as a Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, might be paid at much higher bands, for example £70,417 (Band 8c) or £81,138 after five years.
The starting salary for an NHS role can differ depending on the location of the job, with London-based NHS roles adjusted with a High Cost Area Supplement (HCAS).
This article focuses on the NHS in England, as health is devolved and so the UK government is not responsible for health services in other parts of the country.
Update 13 September 2024
We updated this article to provide more information about the payscales used in the post.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because it incorrectly compares nurses’ starting salaries with much higher potential earnings for an EDI officer, when staff in both roles have the potential to earn a similar salary.