Can anyone tell me the take home pay for top of band 6 NHS?

[WarmHugsandLongKisses]

Hello,

Considering dropping from a band 7 to a 6 as fed up of the ridiculous workload/stress and awful
manager. Costs me quite a bit to work there anyway so I am considering going back to my local hospital as a 6. Just wondered what the take home pay was.

£2697

Is that with enhancements?

Use thesalarycalculator.co.uk

Without knowing your tax code, student loan contributions, pension contributions, any other deductions you might have, no one here can tell you.

That’s basic , after pension is deducted.

I don’t have any student loan contributions to pay but other stuff should be the same on the same band??

Interesting. I don’t get much more than that as a 7

Band 7 on entry is about £40 more than top of 6.
top of 7 gives approx £3100 so around £400 from top of 6.

I’m mid-band 7 and get about £2800 but pay out of that for a hotel once a week and additional travel costs. It’s not worth it, especially for the level of pressure!

mypaycalculator.co.uk/nhs

https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/pay-scales-202425

Are you management or clinical? X

Usually about £3100 take home live in Scotland

I dropped from band 7 to 6. I’m only a month or so in and I did go back up to full time from 35 hours per week but noticed no difference in pay and it will likely end up being more as I’m now working weekends and unsocial hours.

And I can’t tell you how much better my work life balance is, it is the best career decision I have ever made! I cannot believe how much I was expected to do at band 7 and the level of responsibility I held compared to my new job! It’s a travesty really what managerial band 7’s have to do for the pathetic pay!

Not a day goes by that I don’t look back and think thank fuck I left my band 7 job! It was destroying my mental health.

In a very similar position, pleased I am not the only one who noticed. Been in a band 7 post for nearly 4 years and feel like it’s aged me considerably. So close to just changing career sometimes with how I feel

Pathology

It’s a massive jump and the work isn’t hard that I have to do - it’s the sheer volume of it. I don’t get chance to start things before something else is added to the pile. The pressure in meetings is full on too. I remember a couple of 6’s, in my old job, saying it wasn’t worth it. So, yes, looking to go back to a band 6 - even in another area (if I can). I have also applied for a role outside the NHS too.

I really can’t recommend going back to a 6 enough.

I did my band 7 ward manager job for 2.5 years and like @Lm1981 it really has aged me. Since I left, my sleep has improved and I feel like I can breathe again.

I’ve concluded it’s only worth going for a 7 if you are planning to move up and using it as a stepping stone.

Good luck with your job hunt @WarmHugsandLongKisses

Thanks. I think it’s the worse band to be in the NHS on terms of workload/responsibility. I regret it and I feel no better off for it, financially, as I’ve lost the enhancements. I haven’t felt right in myself since starting as a band 7 - stress, worry, waking up every night at 3am and feeling like I don’t enjoy the job because of all of this. I definitely didn’t feel like this as a band 6 at all. One of the other ladies was a 7 there for 10
years and said she suffered stress and sleepless nights - she moved back to a 6 and is a lot happier. It just isn’t worth it. I also think that the band 7 role these days is a lot more demanding than a band 7 role years ago. I definitely do more higher level things compared to what my seniors
did when I was younger.

It makes me feel like a failure 😔.

It’s incredible to read this.

i could have wrote it in fact I had to double check I didn’t.

band 7 for last for years , wake up at 3am with panic and worry. Feel highly strung all time. Some days I struggle to explain what I have even achieved. Feel like I am trying to keep others happy at expense of my own well being. Been trying to decide what to do for ages now and flip flopping all other place.

It’s sad to see there are others in the same boat. It’s the sheer workload that gets to me. I’m not given chance to do anything before I’m given something else, and from numerous sources. My role is a new one to ease pressure on the established 7’s but between them dumping their work on me, my direct line manager and another couple of 8’s, I am bogged down and feel
under pressure. They aren’t looking at what I am doing. If I go sick they’ll just think I’m not coping with the job. I have 2 MSc’s and a string of relevant qualifications and want to make improvements but they need to allow
me to do so. I have had really dark thoughts this last few weeks. I’m in a very vulnerable position as it’s just me (divorced) and all
of parents/siblings are RIP. The 8 criticises people behind their backs a lot - saying they should do their jobs properly etc. The other 7’s work really hard too but he doesn’t seem to acknowledge work they have done either - he just highlights what people haven’t done or forgotten!

Yep, very similar story to you both here. My boss only worked 2 days per week too so I had very little support and did so much more than my fellow band 7’s in the same unit who had full time matrons!

I completely broke and came as close to a breakdown as I ever have; I couldn’t stop crying, couldn’t concentrate and wasn’t sleeping. I handed in my notice with nowhere to go after receiving no support for my mental health but I had seen a job I wanted to apply for. When I reached out to my now new boss who I’d worked with before she was so pleased I was applying and it made me realise just how taken for granted I had been! I’m working in a completely different area now and it has been an adjustment but I love it.

In between handing in my notice and interviewing for my new job I lost my brother in a tragic accident and that really put things in perspective for me!!

I still get emails relating to my old job and it’s so satisfying to be able to pass them along.

Life really is too short to be so unhappy.