The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is hiring equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) staff at salaries that are nearly double those of junior doctors, according to a report by The Times.
Job postings for EDI roles in NHS England show significantly higher salaries than those of specialist junior doctors. One EDI secondment role covering the southwest of England offers a pro-rata salary of £122,000 per year. Another position, a head of EDI at a London NHS trust, offers up to £91,336. In contrast, junior doctors earn between £36,616 and £70,425 per year, while consultants make between £105,504 and £139,882 annually.
Some senior EDI staff in health services have higher-paying jobs than those in clinical roles that require years of training. Last month, the North East London NHS Trust’s Integrated Care Board advertised a head of EDI role with a salary of up to £91,336.
Additionally, The Times reported that NHS trusts are offering training on unconscious bias, white allyship, and microaggressions. NHS England also provides a 60-hour course on inclusive workplaces, which includes education on British slavery and colonialism.
Between 2022 and 2023, NHS trusts spent £13.5 million on EDI positions, according to Freedom of Information requests filed by the TaxPayers’ Alliance. In 2023, then-Health Secretary Steve Barclay ordered a halt to recruitment for EDI roles after discovering a £96,000 job advert for a diversity-related position. He also directed trusts to stop hiring external consultancies for diversity training, but his directive was reportedly ignored by NHS officials, who have continued hiring for high-paying EDI roles.
Current UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting has criticized NHS spending practices, calling for an end to a “culture of overspending.” In response to the report, the NHS said that trusts should not be making “tokenistic gestures that don’t ultimately improve patient or staff experience.”
Job postings for EDI roles in NHS England show significantly higher salaries than those of specialist junior doctors. One EDI secondment role covering the southwest of England offers a pro-rata salary of £122,000 per year. Another position, a head of EDI at a London NHS trust, offers up to £91,336. In contrast, junior doctors earn between £36,616 and £70,425 per year, while consultants make between £105,504 and £139,882 annually.
Some senior EDI staff in health services have higher-paying jobs than those in clinical roles that require years of training. Last month, the North East London NHS Trust’s Integrated Care Board advertised a head of EDI role with a salary of up to £91,336.
Additionally, The Times reported that NHS trusts are offering training on unconscious bias, white allyship, and microaggressions. NHS England also provides a 60-hour course on inclusive workplaces, which includes education on British slavery and colonialism.
Between 2022 and 2023, NHS trusts spent £13.5 million on EDI positions, according to Freedom of Information requests filed by the TaxPayers’ Alliance. In 2023, then-Health Secretary Steve Barclay ordered a halt to recruitment for EDI roles after discovering a £96,000 job advert for a diversity-related position. He also directed trusts to stop hiring external consultancies for diversity training, but his directive was reportedly ignored by NHS officials, who have continued hiring for high-paying EDI roles.
Current UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting has criticized NHS spending practices, calling for an end to a “culture of overspending.” In response to the report, the NHS said that trusts should not be making “tokenistic gestures that don’t ultimately improve patient or staff experience.”
