Midwife pay progression

lisamct · Feb 9, 2009

Ive just qualified (Sept 08) as a midwife in Scotland, sadly what band you start on and how long it takes you to progress up the ladder depends greatly on where geographically you plan to work (AfC has done nothing to provide equality in midwifery bandings, if anything all its done is allow Trusts to keep midwives at a lower pay scale than they would have been at on Whitley and for longer)

We all (well those of us who have been lucky enough to find a job at all), both direct entry students and 18month conversion students have started at the bottom of Band 5 (£20,225 per annum)

In theory you should progress to a band 6 by no longer than a year however I know of many Band 5's who have been stuck on their pay band for 3years+. Also, once you do get to band 6 it can take many years to get to band 7, lots of midwives have sat at band 6 (or the previous equivelent grade) for the majority of their careers as, depending on where you work band 7 posts can be very hard to come by.

Of course this all depends on where in the country your planning to work. When I first qualified I did have a post lined up in London where I would be starting straight onto a band 6 post (the Trust I had a post in didnt have band 5 midwives) however I ended up taking a band 5 post close to home instead. Also different Trusts have different criteria for passing through AfC gateways. Some have set skills criteria you need to meet (e.g you might need to be proficient in suturing and cannulation prior to progressing to band 6), others automatically upgrade your banding after 6 months or a year regardless and others will keep you on a band 5 as long as legally possible.