Organ Donation Nurse Salary 2026/27

Last updated: 1 November 2026 · Figures verified against the NHS Employers 2026/27 pay circular.

By the NHS Bands Pay editorial team

Organ donation nurse pay 2026/27: the Band 6 and Band 7 scales

England awarded Agenda for Change staff 3.3% from 1 April 2026, and that award is already in these figures. An organ donation nurse in England in 2026/27 earns £39,959 to £48,117 at Band 6 and £49,387 to £56,515 at Band 7, for a full-time 37.5-hour week. The step from the top of Band 6 to Band 7 entry is £1,270, which is small beside the £8,158 spread inside Band 6 itself, so the promotion pays off over the following years rather than on day one. For the wider picture at each band, see the Band 6 salary guide and the Band 7 salary guide.

The 2026/27 England scales for a full-time 37.5-hour week. Hourly rates are annual pay divided by 52.2 weeks and then by 37.5 hours, rounded to the nearest penny, and enhancement and overtime rates on this page are calculated from that rounded hourly rate. Monthly pay is annual pay divided by 12. Weekly pay is annual pay divided by 52.2.

For comparison, the 2025/26 ranges before the 3.3% award were £38,682 to £46,580 at Band 6 and £47,810 to £54,710 at Band 7. The award lifted every step, and no back pay was due in England because the increase was paid on time in April salaries.

What a specialist nurse in organ donation actually does

Specialist nurses in organ donation, known as SNODs, are the link between a hospital where a potential donor is being cared for and the national organ donation service. The work starts with a referral, usually from an intensive care or emergency team, and it can arrive at any hour. The SNOD travels to the donor hospital, assesses the potential donor with the clinical team, and, where donation is possible, talks with the family about what donation involves and what the family wishes. That conversation is the heart of the job, and it takes place at the worst moment of a family's life, so the training for it is specific and the experience required is real: SNOD posts typically ask for several years of critical care or emergency nursing first. Our intensive care nurse salary guide covers the Band 5 to 7 pay picture for the ICU background most SNODs come from.

Once a family agrees to donation, the SNOD coordinates the process: the clinical workup, the matching and allocation steps run by the national service, the arrival of the retrieval teams, and the theatre and transfer timings. The nurse stays with the process through the night if that is when it runs, and then completes the records and the follow-up with the family and the donor hospital team. Between cases, the work is education and audit: training ICU and emergency staff to recognise and refer potential donors, reviewing missed referrals, and keeping the donor hospital teams confident in a process most of them meet only rarely. It is a small specialty, so a SNOD covers a region rather than a single hospital, and the working week is shaped by the on-call rota far more than by a ward roster.

Two distinctions matter for pay. First, there is no SNOD supplement in the national scale: a Band 6 SNOD and a Band 6 ward nurse earn the same basic salary, and any difference in take-home pay comes from the rota, the mileage and the location. Second, the recipient side of transplantation is a different job: transplant coordinators look after recipients before and after transplant, and their pay picture is separate. This page covers the donor side only.

Band 6 versus Band 7: what actually changes

At Band 6, the SNOD carries the case: referral assessment, family approach, coordination of the donation, and the records that follow. The nurse works on the on-call rota, travels across the region, and makes clinical and communication judgements without a ward team around them, which is why the role sits at Band 6 rather than Band 5. At Band 7, the nurse leads a team: coordinating the regional rota, supervising and mentoring Band 6 SNODs, handling the most complex or sensitive cases, and leading the education and audit work with donor hospitals. Band 7 also carries the service development side, such as improving referral rates in a group of hospitals or leading a piece of practice change. The pay difference at the point of promotion is £1,270 from the top of Band 6 to Band 7 entry, but Band 7 opens the route to senior practice development and management roles in the national service, where the work moves further from the on-call rota and closer to strategy.

On-call: the rota that defines the job, and the honest limit on the figures

Organ donation does not keep office hours, so SNODs work on-call rotas covering nights, weekends and bank holidays. A nurse on call must be reachable, must be able to reach the donor hospital within the locally set response time, and must be ready to stay for the whole donation process once called. That availability is the defining feature of the job, and it shapes everything else: sleep patterns, weekend plans, and the ability to travel far from base while on call.

On-call availability payments and call-out terms for this role are set locally by the employer, not in the national Agenda for Change scale, so this page quotes no on-call rate. Any page that prints a single national SNOD on-call figure is inventing it. What is fixed nationally is what happens to hours actually worked: hours falling in the unsocial windows attract the Section 2 enhancements below, and hours above 37.5 in the week attract the overtime rates. Before accepting a post, ask for the local on-call policy in writing: the availability payment, how call-outs are paid, the expected response time, how often the rota turns over, and whether rest after a long night case is protected. Those local terms, together with the unsocial table and the mileage example below, are the real pay picture of a SNOD post. For the general on-call rules, see our on-call allowance guide.

Unsocial hours: nights and weekends are a large share of SNOD pay

Section 2 of Agenda for Change pays time plus 30% for Saturdays and weekday nights (8pm to 6am) and time plus 60% for Sundays and bank holidays, for Bands 4 to 9. For a weekday clinic nurse those enhancements are a small addition. For a SNOD, whose cases run whenever a donor is referred, they are a routine part of pay, and they are the reason two SNODs at the same band can take home different amounts in a month with several night cases. Enhancement and overtime cannot both be claimed for the same hours.

An 8-hour Sunday shift at Band 6 entry pays £261.28 at the enhanced rate, against £163.28 at plain time. That is the arithmetic to run when comparing a SNOD post with a weekday post: count the unsocial hours in a typical month, price them from this table, and add the local on-call terms on top. For the full rules, see our unsocial hours and overtime guide.

Overtime: time and a half, double on bank holidays

At Bands 6 and 7, overtime above 37.5 hours a week is paid at time and a half, and double time on bank holidays. From the rounded hourly rates, time and a half is £30.62 at Band 6 entry, £32.31 at Band 6 intermediate, £36.87 at the top of Band 6, £37.85 at Band 7 entry, £39.80 at Band 7 intermediate and £43.31 at the top of Band 7. Double time on a bank holiday is £40.82 at Band 6 entry, £49.16 at the top of Band 6, £50.46 at Band 7 entry and £57.74 at the top of Band 7. Part-time nurses are paid at plain time, plus any unsocial enhancement that applies, for hours above their contracted hours up to 37.5; the overtime rates only start above 37.5. Staff may elect time off in lieu instead of pay.

Mileage: donor-hospital travel under Section 17

A regional SNOD role means driving, and the mileage claim is a real part of the package. Under Agenda for Change Section 17, the 2026/27 car rates are 59p a mile for the first 4,500 business miles in the mileage year and 36p a mile above that, with 30p for motorcycles, 20p for pedal cycles and 5p for passengers. A SNOD who drives 8,000 business miles in a year claims 4,500 miles at 59p (£2,655) plus 3,500 miles at 36p (£1,260), a total of £3,915. Travel between home and the normal place of work is not claimable, while travel to a donor hospital counts as business travel under the general Section 17 rule. Keep a mileage log from the first week: the claim is only as good as the record, and the 4,500-mile threshold means the rate drops mid-year for high-mileage nurses, which changes the monthly claim. For the full rates, see our mileage rates guide.

London weighting: what HCAS adds

Organ donation nurses in London trusts receive the High Cost Area Supplement on top of basic pay: 20% of basic in inner London (minimum £5,794, maximum £8,746), 15% in outer London (minimum £4,870, maximum £6,137) and 5% in the fringe zone (minimum £1,346, maximum £2,270). The minimums matter at Band 6 entry in outer London, where 15% of £39,959 is £5,993.85, above the minimum, so the nurse receives the percentage figure and a total of £45,952.85. The maximums matter at the top of Band 7, where 20% of £56,515 is £11,303, above the inner London cap, so the nurse receives £8,746 and a total of £65,261. For the full zone rules, see our London weighting guide.

Pension: what comes off the payslip

Organ donation nurses are in the NHS Pension Scheme, and the member contribution is the largest regular deduction after tax. On the provisional 2026/27 England and Wales tiers, every Band 6 step sits in the 9.8% tier: £3,915.98 a year or £326.33 a month at Band 6 entry, £4,132.66 a year or £344.39 a month at Band 6 intermediate, and £4,715.47 a year or £392.96 a month at the top of Band 6. At Band 7 the rate is 9.8% at entry and at the intermediate step, £4,839.93 a year or £403.33 a month on £49,387 and £5,089.34 a year or £424.11 a month on £51,932, and 10.7% at the top, £6,047.11 a year or £503.93 a month on £56,515. The employer contributes 23.7% on top, which is £13,394.06 a year at the top of Band 7. The 2026/27 tiers are provisional, calculated from the published 2025/26 tiers, so treat the tier boundaries as subject to confirmation. For the full tier table, see our pension contributions guide.

Part-time work, annual leave and uniform relief

Part-time SNOD work exists, but the on-call rota makes it a conversation to have early: a part-time nurse still needs to cover on-call turns, and the pattern of those turns matters more than the contracted hours alone. Part-time pay is pro rata of the full-time equivalent salary. A 0.8 WTE Band 6 nurse at entry earns 80% of £39,959, which is £31,967.20 a year, and a 0.6 WTE Band 7 nurse at the top earns 60% of £56,515, which is £33,909.00 a year, before any enhancements. Part-time nurses accrue annual leave pro rata as well, and hours above contracted hours up to 37.5 are paid at plain time plus any unsocial enhancement, as explained above. For the leave rules in full, see our annual leave guide and our part-time pay guide.

Annual leave in England follows the Agenda for Change tiers: 27 days plus 8 bank holidays for up to 4 years of service, 29 plus 8 from 5 years, and 33 plus 8 from 10 years. Uniform tax relief is a small but real extra: nurses can claim HMRC flat-rate expenses of £125 a year for laundering a uniform where the employer provides no laundry service or allowance, worth £25 a year at the basic tax rate and £50 at the higher rate, backdatable up to 4 tax years on form P87.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Scotland has its own Agenda for Change scale and a 36-hour week from April 2026, after a 3.75% award from 1 April 2026. The Scotland Band 5 range is £34,494 to £42,977, which works out at £18.36 to £22.87 an hour on the 36-hour week. Scotland Band 6 and Band 7 steps are not quoted here because the full Scotland scales for those bands are not in the verified data file, and this page does not guess at them. Wales awarded 3.3% from 1 April 2026, and the Wales Band 5 steps are £32,557, £35,114 and £39,631, slightly above the England steps at entry and intermediate. Northern Ireland is different: the 3.3% award was recommended but had not been implemented at the time of writing, so Northern Ireland organ donation nurses should not budget on the new rates until implementation is confirmed. For the nation guides, see NHS Scotland pay, NHS Wales pay and NHS Northern Ireland pay.

The honest picture: what organ donation nurse pay does and does not do

Organ donation nurse pay in 2026/27 is solid, nationally set, and transparent: anyone can look up the band, find the step, and know the basic salary to the penny. It does not reward the specialty itself. There is no SNOD supplement in the national scale, and no national on-call rate to quote, because on-call terms are local. What varies is the rota, the mileage, and the location: a nurse on a heavy on-call rota with several night cases, a London nurse with HCAS, and a nurse in a quiet region can sit at the same band and take home quite different amounts. When comparing SNOD posts, get the local on-call policy in writing, price the unsocial hours from the table, ask how mileage is claimed and how often the rota turns over, and confirm the HCAS zone. Those answers tell you more about the real pay of a post than the band alone ever will.

Frequently asked questions

What band is an organ donation nurse in the NHS?

In England in 2026/27, specialist nurses in organ donation, known as SNODs, typically sit at Band 6 or Band 7. Band 6 pays £39,959 at entry, £42,170 at the intermediate step and £48,117 at the top, and Band 7 pays £49,387 at entry, £51,932 at the intermediate step and £56,515 at the top, for a full-time 37.5-hour week. Band 6 is the practitioner grade, working directly with donor hospitals and families, while Band 7 is the team leader grade, coordinating a regional team and holding the more complex cases.

How much does an organ donation nurse earn a month?

In England in 2026/27, an organ donation nurse at Band 6 earns £3,329.92 a month at entry, £3,514.17 at the intermediate step and £4,009.75 at the top, before tax, National Insurance and pension deductions. At Band 7 the monthly figures are £4,115.58 at entry, £4,327.67 at the intermediate step and £4,709.58 at the top. Those are gross figures for a full-time 37.5-hour week, before any unsocial-hours enhancement, overtime, on-call payments or London weighting.

What does a specialist nurse in organ donation actually do?

A specialist nurse in organ donation works with intensive care and emergency teams to identify potential donors, supports families through the decision about donation, and coordinates the donation process once consent or authorisation is given. The work is unplanned by nature: a referral can arrive at any hour, so the nurse travels to the donor hospital, stays through the process, and liaises with the retrieval teams and the recipient centres. It is a small, national specialty, and the caseload is measured in individual donors and families rather than in ward beds or clinic lists.

How much is organ donation nurse on-call pay?

There is no national Agenda for Change on-call rate quoted on this page, because on-call availability and call-out payments for this role are set locally by the employer rather than in the national pay scale. That is the honest position: any figure presented as a national SNOD on-call rate would be invented. What is national is the treatment of hours actually worked when called in: hours falling in the unsocial windows attract the Section 2 enhancements in the table on this page, and hours above 37.5 in the week attract the overtime rates. Ask for the local on-call policy, including the availability payment, the call-out terms and the response-time expectation, before accepting a post, because those local terms are a large part of the real pay of the job.

Do organ donation nurses get unsocial hours payments?

Yes, for hours actually worked in the unsocial windows. Section 2 of Agenda for Change pays time plus 30% for Saturdays and weekday nights (8pm to 6am) and time plus 60% for Sundays and bank holidays, for Bands 4 to 9. At Band 6 entry that is £26.53 an hour on Saturdays and weekday nights and £32.66 on Sundays and bank holidays, against £20.41 in plain time. At the top of Band 7 it is £37.53 and £46.19, against £28.87 plain time. Because donation work happens around the clock, unsocial hours make up a larger share of a SNOD's pay than they do for a weekday clinic nurse.

Can an organ donation nurse claim mileage?

Yes, for business travel under Agenda for Change Section 17. The 2026/27 car rates are 59p a mile for the first 4,500 business miles in the mileage year and 36p a mile above that, with 30p for motorcycles, 20p for pedal cycles and 5p for passengers. A SNOD who drives 8,000 business miles in a year claims 4,500 miles at 59p (£2,655) plus 3,500 miles at 36p (£1,260), a total of £3,915. Travel between home and the normal place of work is not claimable; travel to a donor hospital counts as business travel under the general Section 17 rule.

Do organ donation nurses get London weighting?

Yes, where the post is based in a London trust. Organ donation nurses receive the High Cost Area Supplement: 20% of basic pay in inner London (minimum £5,794, maximum £8,746), 15% in outer London (minimum £4,870, maximum £6,137) and 5% in the fringe zone (minimum £1,346, maximum £2,270). A Band 6 nurse at entry in inner London earns £39,959 + £7,991.80 = £47,950.80 a year. At the top of Band 7 in inner London the supplement is capped at £8,746, giving £65,261 a year.

How much pension does an organ donation nurse pay?

On the provisional 2026/27 England and Wales tiers, a Band 6 organ donation nurse pays 9.8% of pensionable pay at every step: £326.33 a month on £39,959, £344.39 a month on £42,170 and £392.96 a month on £48,117. At Band 7 the rate is 9.8% at entry and at the intermediate step (£403.33 a month on £49,387 and £424.11 a month on £51,932) and 10.7% at the top (£503.93 a month on £56,515). The employer contributes 23.7% on top, which is £13,394.06 a year at the top of Band 7. The 2026/27 tiers are provisional, calculated from the published 2025/26 tiers, not yet published as final.