Parkinson's Nurse Salary 2026/27

Last updated: 9 November 2026 · Figures verified against the NHS Employers 2026/27 pay circular.

By the NHS Bands Pay editorial team

Parkinson's is a condition that changes slowly, and the nurse who looks after someone with Parkinson's changes with it. The work is not one dramatic intervention but hundreds of small, well-judged ones spread across years: a clinic review where a dose is nudged up or down, a phone call that stops a small problem becoming a hospital admission, a home visit that spots a fall risk before the fall happens, a conversation with a spouse who is quietly exhausted. The Parkinson's specialist nurse is the clinician who holds all of that together. The post sits in neurology and movement disorder services, in hospital clinics and in the community, and it is usually banded at Band 6, with Band 7 for the specialist and service-lead posts. Parkinson's UK, the national charity for the condition, supports the specialty and the nurses who work in it. This page gives the full 2026/27 picture: the Band 6 and Band 7 scales, the hourly and monthly rates, take-home pay after pension, tax and National Insurance, unsocial-hours and overtime rules, London weighting, the pension, part-time pay, mileage, the training route, and how the figures differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Parkinson's 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. A Parkinson's 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. Each band has three steps: entry, intermediate and top. The gap between the top of Band 6 (£48,117) and the entry of Band 7 (£49,387) is only £1,270 a year, or £105.83 a month gross, which surprises people who expect a bigger jump for a change of band. The real difference is in the ceiling and in the work: Band 7 tops out £16,556 a year above Band 6 entry, and the Band 7 posts carry a specialist caseload plus service responsibility that Band 6 posts do not.

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 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: £1,277 a year at Band 6 entry, £1,347 at the intermediate step and £1,537 at the top of Band 6, and £1,577 at Band 7 entry, £1,659 at the intermediate step and £1,805 at the top of Band 7. No back pay was due in England because the increase was paid on time in April salaries. Progression within a band is not automatic: it depends on a satisfactory appraisal and completion of statutory and mandatory training. Band 6 moves through its three steps over around five years, and Band 7 over a similar span, though the exact timing follows the trust's incremental progression policy. For the wider picture at each band, including the roles that share these scales, see the Band 6 salary guide and the Band 7 salary guide.

What Parkinson's nurses actually do

Parkinson's is a progressive neurological condition, and the nurse is the clinician who stays with the patient across months and years, not just across one admission. The work splits into three settings that look quite different in practice, even though the same nurse may cover all three in one week: the clinic, the telephone advice line, and the patient's home. In clinic, the nurse runs follow-up appointments, reviews symptoms and medicines, checks how the patient is moving, sleeping and eating, and adjusts care within agreed protocols. On the advice line, the same nurse takes calls from patients and families between appointments, and the judgement call is often whether the problem can be handled on the phone, needs a clinic slot brought forward, or needs urgent medical review. At home, the nurse sees the patient in their own surroundings, where the real difficulties show up: the stairs that have become a hazard, the kitchen routine that has slowed to a crawl, the partner who is doing far more than anyone has recorded.

Medication reviews are the heart of the specialist work, and timing is the part that catches newcomers out. Parkinson's medicines work best on a strict timetable, and the benefit wears off between doses, so a patient who takes a dose late can go from moving reasonably well to struggling to stand within an hour. The nurse reviews the dose schedule at every contact, asks about the gaps between doses, and works with the patient and family on routines that keep the timing steady through the day. It is careful, repetitive work, and it is also where the biggest gains in day-to-day life are made, because a patient whose doses land on time can keep doing ordinary things, cooking, walking to the shops, getting out of a chair, that fall apart when the timing slips. A nurse who runs medication reviews well needs sound knowledge of the drug groups used in Parkinson's, confidence in reading the pattern of a patient's day, and the judgement to pause a change when the patient reports new confusion or a fall. That judgement is built over time, and it is one reason Parkinson's posts sit at Band 6 and above rather than at Band 5.

The caseload is the second thing that defines the role. A Parkinson's nurse carries a list of patients, often several hundred, and knows them by name, by family, and by the stage their condition has reached. That continuity is what lets the nurse spot deterioration early: a patient who is a little more unsteady than last time, a little quieter, a little less able to manage the stairs. It is also what makes the advice line work, because a nurse who knows the patient can judge a phone call in minutes where a stranger would need a full assessment. The caseload model is the closest parallel to other long-term condition nursing, and the heart failure nurse salary guide and the dementia nurse salary guide describe the same pattern in their own specialties. Parkinson's UK, the national charity for the condition, supports the specialty, provides information and resources for patients, families and professionals, and works with services on the nurse role.

Education runs through all three settings. Parkinson's nurses teach patients to take medicines on time, to recognise the signs that a dose is wearing off, to manage freezing and falls in plain terms, and to know when to call the service rather than waiting for the next appointment. They also teach families, who are often the first to notice that a patient is more unsteady or more confused than last week, and who carry much of the daily care as the condition progresses. In clinic and on home visits, they teach ward and community colleagues the early signs of deterioration and the checks that prevent an avoidable admission. The teaching load is steady rather than dramatic, and it suits nurses who like explaining the same core ideas clearly, patient after patient, and seeing the result in fewer emergency admissions. The closest neighbouring roles are the clinical nurse specialist in other long-term conditions, whose caseload model is the closest parallel to Parkinson's work, and the district nurse, whose home visiting pattern will feel familiar to anyone who has worked a community Parkinson's caseload.

The emotional weight of the job deserves a plain statement. Parkinson's is a progressive condition, and nurses in this specialty look after patients over years, through good periods and through decline. They build long relationships, and they lose patients they have known well. They also support families through advance care planning conversations, including honest talk about what to do when swallowing worsens, when falls become frequent, and when hospital admission stops helping. Nurses who last in the role tend to be people who value continuity, who can hold a long relationship with a patient without losing clinical distance, and who can have a difficult conversation kindly and clearly. A nurse weighing a move into Parkinson's care should ask what supervision and support the service offers, because the pay scales on this page say nothing about that part of the job.

Band 6 versus Band 7: what actually changes

At Band 6, a Parkinson's nurse runs a caseload and clinics within a service someone else leads. The nurse assesses patients, reviews medicines within protocol, visits patients at home, answers the advice line, and keeps records and referrals in order. At Band 7, the nurse carries a specialist caseload and also carries responsibility for the service itself: shaping clinic templates, setting referral criteria, leading audit, supervising Band 6 nurses, and representing the service in meetings with neurology, pharmacy, primary care and community teams. The clinical skills overlap a great deal, which is why the pay step between the bands is only £1,270, from £48,117 at the top of Band 6 to £49,387 at the entry of Band 7. What changes is accountability: when a clinic is overbooked, when a referral pathway stalls, or when a new guideline needs to be turned into local practice, the Band 7 nurse is the person expected to fix it.

That difference matters for anyone planning a move. A Band 6 nurse who loves direct patient contact and dislikes committee work may be happier staying at the top of Band 6, where the pay is £48,117 and the week is mostly clinical. A nurse who wants to change how the service works, to lead a team, and to carry the argument for more clinic time or more community capacity, needs the Band 7 post, even though the first year of it pays only £1,270 more than the top of Band 6. The payoff comes later in the band: Band 7 tops out at £56,515, which is £8,398 above the top of Band 6, and the Band 7 nurse builds pension on that higher figure. For the full scales at each band, see the Band 6 salary guide and the Band 7 salary guide, and for the wider specialist ladder, the clinical nurse specialist salary guide.

Experience also shapes where a nurse lands within a band. A nurse moving from a neurology ward or a care of older people ward into a first Parkinson's post usually starts at Band 6 entry, £39,959, and moves through the steps as service and experience grow. A nurse with several years of Parkinson's experience, a prescribing qualification, or advanced assessment skills may be appointed higher in the band or straight into a Band 7 post. Prescribing is worth asking about in any job description: a Parkinson's nurse who can prescribe can adjust medicines in clinic without waiting for a doctor's signature, which makes the clinic run faster and makes the nurse more valuable to the service. It does not automatically change the band, since the band follows the evaluated post, but it strengthens a Band 7 application and it changes the daily work for the better.

Take-home pay after pension, tax and National Insurance

Gross pay is not what arrives in the bank. The table below works out take-home pay for each Band 6 and Band 7 step in England, using the same method used across this site: the pension contribution comes off first, income tax is charged on what is left after the personal allowance, and National Insurance comes off gross pay. Student loan repayments are not in the table, and are dealt with separately below.

Read the table across one row and the shape of a Parkinson's nurse's payslip is clear. At Band 6 entry, on £39,959 a year, the pension takes £3,915.98, income tax takes £4,694.60 and National Insurance takes £2,191.12, leaving £29,157.30 a year, or £2,429.78 a month. At the top of Band 7, on £56,515, the pension takes £6,047.11, tax takes £7,619.16 and National Insurance takes £3,140.90, leaving £39,707.83 a year, or £3,308.99 a month. The pension is the largest single deduction at every step, which is why the pension section below matters: it is also the deduction that buys the most, because it accrues pension at the 1/54th rate while cutting the tax bill.

The step from the top of Band 6 to the entry of Band 7 is worth only £67.90 a month in take-home, against a gross step of £1,270 a year, or £105.83 a month, and the reason is that the pension contribution, tax and National Insurance all rise with the pay. That small net step is the honest answer to the question every Band 6 nurse asks before applying for a Band 7 post: the move is worth making for the work, the responsibility and the ceiling, not for the first month's payslip. The full range tells a different story: from Band 6 entry to the top of Band 7, take-home rises by £879.21 a month, from £2,429.78 to £3,308.99. Within Band 6 alone the rise is £436.18 a month, and within Band 7 it is £375.13 a month.

Student loans come off after the figures in the table. Most staff who studied in England or Wales are on Plan 2, which takes 9% of earnings above £29,385 a year. On Parkinson's nurse pay that is £951.66 a year, or £79.31 a month, at Band 6 entry, £1,685.88 a year, or £140.49 a month, at the top of Band 6, £1,800.18 a year, or £150.02 a month, at Band 7 entry, and £2,441.70 a year, or £203.48 a month, at the top of Band 7. Take-home with a Plan 2 loan is therefore £2,350.47 a month at Band 6 entry, £2,725.47 at the top of Band 6, £2,783.84 at Band 7 entry and £3,105.51 at the top of Band 7. The student loan repayments on NHS pay guide works out the deduction for any salary and plan.

Unsocial hours and overtime

Most Parkinson's work happens in weekday clinics, so unsocial-hours money is usually a smaller part of the payslip here than on a ward, but the rates still apply whenever the hours are worked. Agenda for Change Section 2 pays Bands 4 to 9 time plus 30% for Saturday and weekday night hours (8pm to 6am) and time plus 60% for Sunday and public-holiday hours. The table below applies those percentages to the rounded hourly rates from the scales above, and adds the overtime rates, which are time and a half for hours above 37.5 a week and double time on bank holidays, at both Band 6 and Band 7. For the full unsocial-hours rules, including overtime and time off in lieu, see the unsocial hours and overtime guide.

Worked example: a Band 7 Parkinson's nurse specialist at entry works a Sunday shift of 7.5 hours. Plain time for the shift would be £189.23 (7.5 hours at £25.23). At time plus 60%, the same shift pays £302.78 (7.5 hours at £40.37). The enhancement alone is worth £113.55 for that one shift. A second example, from the other end of the week: a Band 6 Parkinson's nurse at entry works a 7.5-hour Saturday clinic. Plain time would be £153.08 (7.5 hours at £20.41). At time plus 30%, the clinic pays £198.98 (7.5 hours at £26.53), an extra £45.90 for the session. A nurse who regularly works weekends will see a payslip well above the basic monthly figure, and a nurse whose post is mainly weekday clinics will see a payslip close to it. That is why two nurses on the same band and step can take home different amounts, and why asking about the rota matters as much as asking about the band.

Overtime usually means staying past the end of a clinic, covering a colleague's sickness absence, or working an extra session when the caseload is under pressure. A Band 6 nurse at the intermediate step who works 5 extra hours in a week at time and a half is paid 5 hours at £32.31, or £161.55, against £107.70 at plain time, an extra £53.85 for the week. Overtime is not a reliable part of the salary, and services vary in how much they offer. A nurse budgeting on overtime every week is budgeting on something the service may withdraw, so the figures above are best read as the value of an occasional extra session, not as a second salary. Staff may elect time off in lieu instead of overtime pay, which suits nurses who would rather bank the hours after a run of Saturday clinics. Overtime and unsocial-hours enhancement cannot both be claimed for the same hours.

On-call: the figure this page does not quote

On-call is the one part of Parkinson's nurse pay that cannot be quoted nationally, and this page does not pretend otherwise. Some services pay an on-call availability payment for being contactable out of hours, plus a payment for each call or visit. Others fold on-call into a rota allowance, and community services vary in whether they run a formal on-call rota at all, with urgent out-of-hours calls going to a general community or district nursing service instead. The frequency matters as much as the rate: a service that calls its nurse out several times a weekend pays very differently from a service that calls once a month, even on the same availability payment. The only figure that counts for a specific post is the one in that trust's local terms. Ask for it in writing before accepting a post, along with the rota pattern, the expected call-out frequency, and how travel time for call-out visits is treated. What can be said is that the unsocial-hours rates in the table above apply to hours actually worked, so a nurse called out overnight is paid the enhanced rate for the hours worked, and the on-call allowance, whatever the local rate is, sits on top of that.

London weighting: the cap binds at the top

High Cost Area Supplement is paid on top of basic pay for staff working in London and the fringe zone. In 2026/27, inner London pays 20% of basic pay (minimum £5,794, maximum £8,746), outer London pays 15% (minimum £4,870, maximum £6,137) and the fringe zone pays 5% (minimum £1,346, maximum £2,270). The cap binds at the top of this ladder: a Band 6 nurse at the top in inner London receives the £8,746 maximum, not 20% of £48,117, for a total of £56,863, and a Band 7 specialist at entry in inner London also receives £8,746, for a total of £58,133. At Band 7 every step is capped in all three zones, so the supplement is flat across the band. For the full HCAS rules, see the London weighting guide.

The pattern below the caps is worth checking on a payslip. A Band 6 nurse at entry in outer London receives £5,993.85, which is 15% of the basic, above the £4,870 minimum, for a total of £45,952.85. The same nurse in the fringe zone receives £1,997.95, which is 5% of the basic, above the £1,346 minimum, for a total of £41,956.95. At the intermediate step of Band 6 the outer supplement is already capped at £6,137, for a total of £48,307, and at the top of Band 6 the fringe supplement is capped at £2,270, for a total of £50,387. These small rules are the ones that catch people out when they estimate London pay from a percentage alone, so the table above gives totals, not just percentages.

Pension: 9.8% at Band 6, 10.7% at the top of Band 7

NHS pension contributions are the largest regular deduction after tax for most Parkinson's nurses, and they are also the most valuable part of the package. Under the official 2026/27 England and Wales tiers, Band 6 nurses pay 9.8% at every step, from £326.33 a month at entry to £392.96 a month at the top, with £344.39 a month at the intermediate step. Band 7 specialists pay 9.8% at entry and the intermediate step, £403.33 and £424.11 a month, and 10.7% at the top, £503.93 a month. The employer contributes 23.7% on top of pensionable pay, which is £9,470.28 a year at Band 6 entry and £13,394.06 a year at the top of Band 7. The tiers are the official NHSBSA tiers, confirmed and in force from 1 April 2026. For the full tier table, see the pension contributions guide.

The 2026/27 tiers are the official NHSBSA tiers, confirmed and in force from 1 April 2026. A nurse who crosses the 9.8% to 10.7% boundary, which happens between Band 7 intermediate (£51,932) and Band 7 top (£56,515), will see the monthly contribution jump by more than the pay rise alone suggests: from £424.11 to £503.93 a month, a rise of £79.82 a month. That is normal tier behaviour, not a payroll error. The tier is set by whole-time-equivalent salary, so a part-time nurse is tiered on the full-time rate for the post, not on part-time earnings.

Each year of service accrues pension at 1/54th of pensionable earnings in the 2015 CARE scheme, so a year at Band 6 entry accrues £739.98 of annual pension, a year at the intermediate step accrues £780.93, a year at the top of Band 6 accrues £891.06, a year at Band 7 entry accrues £914.57, a year at the intermediate step accrues £961.70 and a year at the top of Band 7 accrues £1,046.57. The built-up pension is revalued each April. The contribution also cuts the tax bill, because it comes off before tax: at Band 6 entry the pension contribution saves £783.20 of income tax a year, which is the 20% rate applied to the £3,915.98 contribution. That tax saving is part of the value of the scheme, and it is the reason the take-home figures on this page are worked out with the pension taken off first. Pensionable pay is basic pay plus any pensionable allowances, and for most Parkinson's nurses that means basic pay alone, since unsocial-hours enhancements and overtime are not pensionable.

Part-time work, annual leave, mileage and uniform relief

Part-time pay in Agenda for Change is pro rata to the whole-time equivalent fraction. A Band 6 Parkinson's nurse at entry on a 0.8 whole-time equivalent contract earns £31,967.20 a year, and a Band 7 specialist at the top on a 0.6 contract earns £33,909 a year. Unsocial-hours percentages and HCAS apply to the pro rata basic in the same way as to a full-time basic, and pension contributions are calculated on the actual pensionable pay, not the whole-time equivalent figure. A worked example shows the shape of it: a Band 6 nurse at entry on 0.6 whole-time equivalent earns £23,975.40 a year, the pension tier is 9.8%, set by the full-time salary of £39,959, and it takes £2,349.59 a year, income tax is £1,811.16 a year and National Insurance is £912.43, leaving take-home of £18,902.22 a year, or £1,575.19 a month. Parkinson's services often offer part-time posts, because clinic sessions and community caseloads can both be split, but the on-call commitment of a part-time post should be checked, since some services expect part-time nurses to take a full share of on-call. For the full pro-rata rules, see the part-time pay guide.

Annual leave follows the Agenda for Change tiers: 27 days on joining, 29 days after five years of service and 33 days after ten years, plus eight bank holidays, with part-time leave calculated pro rata in hours. A nurse who works weekends will take some of those bank holidays as working days and receive the unsocial-hours enhancement instead, which is the standard trade in seven-day services. For the full leave rules, see the annual leave guide.

Mileage is the other regular money for community Parkinson's nurses, who drive between home visits all week. Under Agenda for Change Section 17, a car user is paid 59p a mile for the first 4,500 miles in a year and 36p a mile after that. A nurse driving 5,000 miles in a year receives £2,835, and a nurse driving 4,000 miles receives £2,360. Mileage is an expense reimbursement, not pay, and it is kept separate from salary in every example on this page. For the full rates and more worked examples, see the mileage rates guide. Nurses who wear a uniform can also claim flat-rate tax relief for laundry: £125 a year for nurses, worth £25 a year at the 20% tax rate and £50 a year at the 40% rate. It is a small sum, but it is claimed through the tax code and costs nothing to ask for.

Clinic, community and home visits: three versions of the same job

The same band and step can mean three quite different weeks, depending on whether the post is clinic based, community based, or a mix of the two. The clinic nurse works from a hospital or health centre, sees patients in booked appointments, and hands over to the community team between visits. The day is structured by clinic lists, referrals and the advice line, and the nurse rarely travels. The community nurse works from a base and spends the day visiting patients at home, often alone, making clinical judgements without a doctor down the corridor. The day is structured by a visit list, driving time, and phone calls between visits, and the nurse needs confidence in lone working and in deciding when a home visit must become a hospital admission. Most Parkinson's services mix the two, with the same nurse running clinics on some days and visiting patients at home on others, which is why the job description is worth reading closely before applying.

Pay differs between the versions mainly through unsocial hours and mileage, not through basic pay. The clinic nurse who covers Saturday clinics earns unsocial-hours money for those sessions. The community nurse earns more mileage, and may earn less unsocial-hours money if the community rota is mainly weekdays with a lighter weekend commitment. Both earn the same basic for the same band and step, and both earn the same HCAS for the same zone. A nurse choosing between the two should weigh the working pattern honestly: clinic work offers a team on hand and a faster pace, community work offers autonomy, long patient relationships, and a car full of notes and equipment. The district nurse salary guide covers the closest community nursing parallel, and its visit-based working pattern will feel familiar to anyone who has worked a community Parkinson's caseload.

How to become a Parkinson's specialist nurse

Entrants are registered nurses with several years of post-registration experience, often in neurology, care of older people or community nursing. There is no single national training route into the role: most nurses move into Parkinson's care from a ward or community post, build experience in the specialty, and take on postgraduate study in Parkinson's or neurological care alongside the job. Many posts ask for, or support the nurse towards, a non-medical prescribing qualification, because a nurse who can prescribe can adjust medicines in clinic without waiting for a doctor's signature, and that changes the daily work for the better. Parkinson's UK provides information and resources that support nurses working in the specialty, alongside the training and development offered by the employing trust.

The training itself is built around the clinic and the caseload. The nurse learns the drug groups used in Parkinson's, the pattern of symptoms across a day, the non-motor symptoms that patients rarely volunteer, such as sleep problems, low mood and constipation, and the judgement to know when a change in medicines is safe to make in clinic and when it needs a consultant's input. That judgement is what the Band 6 and Band 7 posts pay for, and it is built over years rather than months. A nurse coming from a general medical or elderly care ward will already have much of the assessment skill; what is new is the depth in one condition, the long caseload, and the responsibility for a service rather than a shift. The clinical nurse specialist salary guide covers the wider specialist ladder, and the Band 6 salary guide and the Band 7 salary guide set out what the two bands mean across the NHS.

Parkinson's nursing is a small, well-connected field: most services know each other, Parkinson's UK is a familiar presence, and the posts are few enough that a move usually means moving service or moving trust. That smallness is both the opportunity and the risk: a good Parkinson's nurse is hard to replace, and a service that loses one feels it at once, but there are fewer posts to move between than in a large specialty such as district nursing or intensive care.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Scotland awarded 3.75% from 1 April 2026 under its two-year deal, and moved to a 36-hour week from April 2026. The Scotland scale is its own, published in the circular PCS(AFC)2026/1. For comparison, Scotland Band 5 pays £34,544 at entry, £36,911 at the intermediate step and £43,039 at the top, or £18.40 to £22.93 an hour on the 36-hour week. For the bands on this page, Scotland Band 6 pays £43,231 at entry, £45,135 at the intermediate step and £52,679 at the top, or £23.03 to £28.06 an hour, and Scotland Band 7 pays £52,845 at entry, £54,863 at the intermediate step and £61,466 at the top, or £28.15 to £32.74 an hour, all on the 36-hour week. The shorter week is worth real money in hourly terms, and it also changes the overtime threshold, since overtime in Scotland starts above 36 hours rather than 37.5. Scotland also has its own nine-tier pension structure, at 5.7% to 12.7%, with thresholds that differ from the England and Wales tiers quoted above, and an employer contribution of 22.5%.

Wales awarded 3.3%, implemented 1 April 2026 and paid on time. Wales Band 5 pays £32,557 at entry, £35,114 at the intermediate step and £39,631 at the top, or £2,713.08 to £3,302.58 a month. The Real Living Wage floor applies to the lowest bands in Wales and does not bind at Band 6 or Band 7.

Northern Ireland is different: the 3.3% award was recommended but had not been implemented at the time the data file was last checked, so Northern Ireland Parkinson's nurse pay should not be budgeted on the England figures. Staff there remain on the 2025/26 scale, which is Band 6 £38,682 to £46,580 and Band 7 £47,810 to £54,710 in payment now. The Scotland pay guide, the Wales pay guide and the Northern Ireland pay guide carry the nation positions in full.

NHS or private work: the honest comparison

There is no single answer, because the two settings pay in different ways. An employed NHS post pays a banded salary with the pension, sick pay, annual leave and unsocial-hours structure described on this page, and the salary is the same regardless of how many patients are seen in a clinic. Independent sector work, in private hospitals and home-care services, is usually employed work too, on terms set by the provider, and this page quotes no private rates, because private terms vary by provider and by region and no verified national figure exists for them. A nurse who values a predictable monthly salary, an NHS pension and paid leave will usually prefer the employed NHS route. A nurse who wants to work across several providers, or to pick up additional sessions, may combine an NHS post with independent sector work, accepting that the second job has to be declared and checked against working-time rules, because the conflict checks apply even when the second job is in a different setting.

The more practical comparison for most Parkinson's nurses is not NHS against private, but Band 6 against Band 7. The net pay step between the two bands is small, at £67.90 a month from the top of Band 6 to the entry of Band 7, and the real gain is the ceiling: the top of Band 7 pays £879.21 a month more in take-home than Band 6 entry. A nurse who wants the higher ceiling should look for specialist and service-lead posts, and for prescribing and advanced assessment skills, because those are the duties that move a post from Band 6 to Band 7, and the person specifications that carry them say so.

Frequently asked questions

What band is a Parkinson's nurse?

Most Parkinson's specialist nurses sit at Band 6, and Parkinson's nurse specialists and service leads sit at Band 7. In England in 2026/27, 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. The band follows the post, not the job title, so one trust can employ a Band 6 Parkinson's nurse and a Band 7 Parkinson's nurse specialist in the same service, with the specialist carrying service responsibility on top of the clinical caseload.

How much does a Parkinson's nurse earn a month?

In England in 2026/27, a Band 6 Parkinson's nurse 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. A Band 7 Parkinson's nurse specialist earns £4,115.58 a month 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, on-call payment or London weighting.

Do Parkinson's nurses get unsocial-hours pay?

Yes, when the hours are worked. Agenda for Change Section 2 pays Bands 4 to 9 time plus 30% for Saturday and weekday night hours (8pm to 6am) and time plus 60% for Sunday and public-holiday hours. A Band 6 Parkinson's nurse at entry earns £26.53 an hour on a Saturday or at night and £32.66 on a Sunday or bank holiday, against £20.41 plain time. At the top of Band 7, £28.87 an hour becomes £37.53 and £46.19. Most Parkinson's work happens in weekday clinics, so unsocial-hours money is usually a smaller part of the payslip here than on a ward, but nurses who cover weekend clinics or ward shifts earn these enhancements for the qualifying hours they actually work.

Do Parkinson's nurses get London weighting?

Yes, in London. High Cost Area Supplement in 2026/27 is 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 Parkinson's nurse at entry in inner London earns £47,950.80 in total, and a Band 7 Parkinson's nurse specialist at entry in inner London earns £58,133, because the 20% supplement is capped at £8,746. A Band 7 specialist at the top in inner London earns £65,261 in total.

What pension contribution does a Parkinson's nurse pay?

Under the official 2026/27 England and Wales tiers, Band 6 Parkinson's nurses pay 9.8% of pensionable pay at every step, from £326.33 a month at entry to £392.96 a month at the top. Band 7 Parkinson's nurse specialists pay 9.8% at entry and the intermediate step, £403.33 and £424.11 a month, and 10.7% at the top, £503.93 a month. The employer contributes 23.7% on top, which is £13,394.06 a year at the top of Band 7. The 2026/27 member tiers are the official NHSBSA tiers, confirmed and in force from 1 April 2026.

Can a Parkinson's nurse work part-time?

Yes. Part-time pay in Agenda for Change is pro rata to the whole-time equivalent fraction. A Band 6 Parkinson's nurse at entry on a 0.8 whole-time equivalent contract earns £31,967.20 a year, and a Band 7 Parkinson's nurse specialist at the top on a 0.6 contract earns £33,909 a year. Unsocial-hours percentages and High Cost Area Supplement apply to the pro rata basic in the same way as to a full-time basic, and the pension tier is set by the whole-time equivalent salary, not by part-time earnings. Clinic sessions and community caseloads can both be split across part-time posts, though the on-call share of a part-time post should be checked before accepting it.

Do Parkinson's nurses get paid mileage?

Yes, when driving is part of the job, under Agenda for Change Section 17. A car user is paid 59p a mile for the first 4,500 miles in a year and 36p a mile after that. A nurse driving 5,000 miles in a year receives £2,835: £2,655 for the first 4,500 miles plus £180 for the remaining 500. Mileage is an expense reimbursement, not pay, so it is kept separate from salary in every example on this page. Parkinson's nurses who visit patients at home will claim far more mileage than nurses based in a single clinic.

How does Parkinson's nurse pay differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Scotland awarded 3.75% from 1 April 2026 and moved to a 36-hour week, which changes the hourly maths and the overtime threshold, since overtime in Scotland starts above 36 hours rather than 37.5. Scotland Band 5 pays £34,544 at entry, £36,911 at the intermediate step and £43,039 at the top, or £18.40 to £22.93 an hour on the 36-hour week. Wales awarded 3.3%, implemented 1 April 2026, and Wales Band 5 pays £32,557 at entry, £35,114 at the intermediate step and £39,631 at the top. Northern Ireland has a 3.3% recommendation for 2026/27 that has not been implemented, so staff there remain on the 2025/26 scale: Band 6 £38,682 to £46,580 and Band 7 £47,810 to £54,710 in payment now. For the bands on this page, Scotland Band 6 pays £43,231 at entry, £45,135 at the intermediate step and £52,679 at the top, or £23.03 to £28.06 an hour, and Scotland Band 7 pays £52,845 at entry, £54,863 at the intermediate step and £61,466 at the top, or £28.15 to £32.74 an hour, all on the 36-hour week. No Wales Band 6 or Band 7 salary figures are quoted on this page.

Sources and independence

Source: NHS Employers, Unsocial hours payments (Agenda for Change Section 2 rates) and the Agenda for Change pay circular 2026/27 (England pay scales, High Cost Area Supplement, pension tiers and mileage rates).

Source: NHSBSA, official 2026/27 pension contribution tiers for England and Wales (in force from 1 April 2026); NHS Scotland circular PCS(AFC)2026/1 (Scotland 2026/27 scale and 36-hour week).

Source: Parkinson's UK, parkinsons.org.uk (the national charity for Parkinson's, supporting the specialty and providing information and resources for people with Parkinson's, families and professionals).

NHS Bands Pay is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the NHS, NHS Employers, Parkinson's UK or any NHS trust. Figures were verified against the official sources above on 9 November 2026 and can change, always confirm with the relevant official body before making financial decisions.