# NHS paying diversity staff twice as much as junior doctors: report

By Hayden Cunningham · Published 2025-02-15 · News & Analysis › World · https://humanevents.com/news/nhs-paying-diversity-staff-twice-as-much-as-junior-doctors-report

> Some senior EDI staff in health services have higher-paying jobs than those in clinical roles that require years of training.

The UK’s National Health Service ([NHS](https://humanevents.com/2024/12/23/uk-father-launches-suit-against-national-health-service-over-giving-cross-sex-hormones-to-trans-son)) is hiring equity, diversity, and inclusion ([EDI](https://thepostmillennial.com/dept-of-education-warns-states-to-eliminate-dei-policies-in-public-schools-or-lose-federal-funding)) staff at salaries that are nearly double those of junior doctors, according to a report by [The Times](https://www.thetimes.com/article/541f444c-999c-4c3c-b14f-bcbb08ffab68?shareToken=4c8721ee9f0f210fd51ee63e27d64e05).

Job postings for EDI roles in NHS England show significantly higher salaries than those of specialist junior [doctors](https://humanevents.com/2025/02/12/trans-doctor-claims-sex-has-no-defined-or-agreed-meaning-amid-legal-dispute-with-nurse-who-was-fired-over-refusal-to-share-change-room). 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.”