Resuscitation Officer Salary 2026/27

Last updated: 31 October 2026 · Figures verified against the NHS Employers 2026/27 pay circular.

By the NHS Bands Pay editorial team

Resuscitation officer pay 2026/27: the Band 6 to Band 7 scales

England awarded Agenda for Change staff 3.3% from 1 April 2026, and the award was paid on time in April salaries. The scales below are 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 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.

The step structure tells the story of this ladder. Inside each band, the journey is worth £8,158 at Band 6 and £7,128 at Band 7. Between bands, the step is small: £1,270 from the top of Band 6 to the entry of Band 7. An officer who moves from Band 6 top to Band 7 entry gains just over £105 a month in basic pay, which surprises people who expect a promotion to transform their salary. The real gain at Band 7 is the higher ceiling, £56,515 against £48,117, and the different work: a service to lead rather than a training programme to deliver. The full journey from Band 6 entry to Band 7 top is worth £16,556 a year in basic pay.

One point that trips up newcomers: the band follows the post, not the person and not the job title. A trust can advertise a Band 6 resuscitation officer post and a Band 7 resuscitation lead post in the same service, with overlapping clinical duties, and pay them from different scales. The job evaluation behind each post decides the band, based on the knowledge, responsibility and effort the post demands. That is why this page quotes bands and steps rather than a single salary figure. Anyone comparing offers should ask for the band and the step, not just the headline annual figure, because the step alone can be worth £2,211 at Band 6, from £39,959 at entry to £42,170 at the intermediate step. For how banding decisions are made, see the job evaluation guide.

What a resuscitation officer actually does

A resuscitation officer is the clinician a hospital turns to when a patient collapses. The job has two halves that pull in different directions, and both matter. The first half is the emergency itself: attending cardiac arrests and medical emergencies across the hospital, as part of the arrest team, bringing the resuscitation trolley, the defibrillator and the drugs, and working to the resuscitation council guidelines while the ward team, the anaesthetist and the critical care outreach team do their parts. The second half is everything that stops the next arrest happening, or makes it survivable when it does: training ward staff, auditing arrests, checking trolleys and defibrillators, and reviewing the notes after an event to find what went wrong and what should change.

A typical week mixes both halves in a way few other NHS jobs do. One day the officer runs a life support course for newly qualified nurses, teaching chest compressions, airway skills and defibrillation on manikins in a training room. The next day the same officer is called to a ward at 2am, or reviews a cardiac arrest from the previous night, checking whether the arrest was recognised early, whether the call went out promptly, and whether the equipment worked as it should. Between those extremes sits a steady load of audit and governance: keeping the training records that show which staff are in date, reporting arrest outcomes to the trust, and sitting on committees that decide where defibrillators go and how the arrest team is staffed. The closest neighbouring role is the intensive care nurse, who also works with critically ill patients, but the ICU nurse cares for one or two patients at a time on a unit, while the resuscitation officer covers the whole hospital and spends much of the week teaching other people to do what the ICU team does every day.

The training load is the part of the job outsiders underestimate. A resuscitation service does not just train its own team. It trains the wards, the porters who move patients, the junior doctors on rotation, and often community teams and GP practices in the area. Courses run all year, and the officer who delivers them needs to stay current as an instructor, keep the course materials up to date, and book and assess candidates in numbers large enough to keep a whole trust compliant. A hospital with several thousand clinical staff needs a constant flow of courses, and the resuscitation officer is the person who makes that flow happen. That teaching responsibility is also why the role sits at Band 6 and above: it demands clinical credibility, because experienced ward staff will not accept training from someone they do not trust at an arrest, and it demands organisational skill, because a training programme for a whole trust does not run itself.

The emotional weight of the job deserves a plain statement. Resuscitation officers attend arrests where patients die, and they do it regularly. They also review the arrests afterwards, which means reading notes about patients they tried to save, and telling colleagues, kindly and honestly, where the response fell short. Officers who last in the role tend to be people who can separate the outcome from the performance: a well-run resuscitation can still end in death, and a poor outcome does not always mean a poor response. Trusts vary in the support they offer after difficult events, and a nurse weighing a move into resuscitation should ask what debrief and support arrangements exist, because the pay scales on this page say nothing about that part of the job.

Becoming a resuscitation officer: the route in

Resuscitation posts are registered clinician posts, so the starting point is professional registration, usually as a nurse, and a period of post-registration experience in acute care, critical care or emergency care. Band 6 resuscitation officer posts suit clinicians with solid experience of acutely unwell patients, a current advanced life support qualification, and experience of teaching or mentoring, even if that teaching has so far been informal, on the ward. The skills that transfer best are recognising deterioration, staying calm and clear under pressure, and explaining a practical skill to a nervous learner without condescension. Band 7 lead posts usually ask for more: experience of running a resuscitation service or a large training programme, audit and governance experience, and the ability to lead a small team and to argue a service case to managers.

Training follows the post rather than preceding it in most cases. A Band 6 officer joining a service will be supported to become an instructor on the life support courses the service delivers, and to build the audit and equipment-checking competence the service needs. Advanced qualifications in resuscitation, critical care or education strengthen Band 7 applications, and many trusts support officers through those courses once in post. The honest picture is that resuscitation is a small specialty, so the training pathways are less settled than for ward nursing or district nursing, and the number of posts in any one trust is small, often one or two officers plus a lead. A clinician should ask a prospective employer how large the team is, who covers leave and sickness, and how the service handles a lone officer post, because those answers vary more between trusts than the pay scales do.

Unsocial hours: arrests do not keep office hours

Cardiac arrests happen at night and at weekends, and the rota for a resuscitation service reflects that. 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. For the full unsocial-hours rules, including overtime and time off in lieu, see the unsocial hours and overtime guide.

Worked example: a Band 6 resuscitation officer at the top of the band works a Sunday shift of 7.5 hours. Plain time for the shift would be £184.35 (7.5 hours at £24.58). At time plus 60%, the same shift pays £294.98 (7.5 hours at £39.33). The enhancement alone is worth £110.63 for that one shift. An officer who regularly works weekends will see a payslip well above the basic monthly figure, and an officer whose post is mainly weekday training will see a payslip close to it. That is why two officers 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.

Out-of-hours cover works differently between trusts, and that difference is worth checking before accepting a post. Some services run a resuscitation officer on call overnight, attending arrests when called. Others hand overnight cover to the hospital at night team or the critical care outreach team, with the resuscitation officer reviewing the night's events the next morning. The unsocial-hours percentages above apply to the hours actually worked, in either model, but the amount of night work in a given post depends on the local service design. A post advertised with an on-call commitment will carry more night and weekend hours than a post advertised as training-led, and the payslips will reflect that.

Overtime: time and a half, double on bank holidays

Overtime in Agenda for Change is paid at time and a half for hours above the standard week, and at double time for hours worked on a public holiday, subject to the usual conditions on the service. For a resuscitation officer, overtime usually means staying past the end of a course, covering a colleague's sickness absence, or working an extra shift when the service is short staffed. The hourly overtime rates below are calculated from the rounded plain-time rates.

Worked example: a Band 7 resuscitation lead at entry works 5 extra hours in a week at time and a half. That is 5 hours at £37.85, or £189.25, against £126.15 at plain time, an extra £63.10 for the week. Overtime is not a reliable part of the salary, and services vary in how much they offer. An officer 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 shift, not as a second salary.

On-call: the figure this page does not quote

On-call is the one part of resuscitation officer pay that cannot be quoted nationally, and this page does not pretend otherwise. Some trusts pay an on-call availability payment for being contactable overnight, plus a payment for each call-out or arrest attended. Others fold on-call into a rota allowance. The frequency matters as much as the rate: a service that calls its officer out twice a night pays very differently from a service that calls once a month, even on the same availability payment. The on-call allowance guide covers the general picture, but 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.

London weighting: what HCAS adds

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 across this ladder: a Band 6 officer 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 lead at entry in inner London also receives £8,746, for a total of £58,133. For the full HCAS rules, see the London weighting guide, and to check any zone and salary combination, use the HCAS calculator.

The outer London minimum matters at the bottom of the ladder in other roles, but at Band 6 and above the percentages mostly run clear of the minimums, and the caps do the work instead. A Band 6 officer 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 officer 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 top of the ladder the fringe cap binds: a Band 7 lead at the top receives £2,270 in the fringe zone, not 5% of £56,515, for a total of £58,785. 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: what comes off the payslip

NHS pension contributions are the largest regular deduction after tax for most resuscitation officers, and they are also the most valuable part of the package. Under the provisional 2026/27 England and Wales tiers, Band 6 officers 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 leads 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 provisional, calculated from the published 2025/26 tiers, and have not yet been formally published, so an officer should check the final tiers when they are confirmed. For the full tier table, see the pension contributions guide.

Pensionable pay is basic pay plus any pensionable allowances, and for most resuscitation officers that means basic pay alone, since unsocial-hours enhancements and overtime are not pensionable. That distinction matters when comparing a resuscitation payslip with a ward payslip: an officer who earns a lot of unsocial-hours money takes home more in the month, but builds pension on the basic only. The pension itself is a career average scheme, so each year's pensionable pay adds a slice to the retirement pension, and the slices from higher-band years are worth more than the slices from lower-band years. An officer who spends the last years of a career at Band 7 retires on a pension built from those years at their full value, which is one reason the Band 7 ceiling matters beyond the monthly pay.

Part-time work, annual leave and mileage

Part-time pay in Agenda for Change is pro rata to the whole-time equivalent fraction. A Band 6 resuscitation officer at entry on a 0.8 whole-time equivalent contract earns £31,967.20 a year, and a Band 7 lead 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. Resuscitation services often offer part-time posts, because the training programme and the audit work can both be split, but the on-call commitment of a part-time post should be checked, since some services expect part-time officers to take a full share of on-call.

Annual leave follows the Agenda for Change tiers used across the site: 27 days on joining, 29 days after five years of service and 33 days after ten years, plus eight public holidays, with part-time leave calculated pro rata in hours. An officer who works weekends will take some of those public 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 and a calculator for part-time and mid-year cases, see the annual leave guide.

Mileage is the other regular money for officers who cover more than one site. 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. An officer driving 5,000 miles in a year receives £2,835, and an officer driving 4,000 miles receives £2,360. Motorcycle users receive 30p a mile and cyclists 20p a mile, and a passenger carried on NHS business adds 5p a mile. 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. Travel time between sites is a separate question from mileage, and it is governed by local arrangements and working-time rules rather than by a national mileage rate, so an officer should ask how travel time is counted in the working day.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Scotland awarded Agenda for Change staff 3.75% from 1 April 2026 and moved to a 36-hour week, which changes the hourly maths even where the annual figure looks close to England. 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. Wales awarded 3.3% and applies a Real Living Wage floor of £13.45 an hour, which lifts the lowest bands but does not change the Band 6 and Band 7 figures at the centre of this page. Northern Ireland has a 3.3% recommendation for 2026/27 that had not been implemented, so no 2026/27 Northern Ireland figure is quoted on this page. For the four-nation comparison, see the NHS pay scales by country guide. No Band 6 or Band 7 Scotland or Wales figures are quoted here, because the verified figures held for those nations cover Band 5 only, and this page does not fill the gap by guessing.

The honest picture: what resuscitation officer pay does and does not do

Resuscitation officer pay is solid, transparent and nationally set, which is its strength. An officer can look up the band scale, add the unsocial-hours percentage for the rota, add HCAS for London, and know the gross figure within a few pounds. There are no hidden bonuses and no negotiation over the basic: the scale is the scale. The ceiling is the weakness. Band 6 tops out at £48,117, and an officer who wants more must move to Band 7, which means a service to lead, not simply more years in the same job. On-call pay, which can be a meaningful part of a resuscitation income, is set locally and varies, so the national scales alone do not tell the whole story for this specialty. The job itself is the reason to take it: the moment when a team brings a patient back, the training that makes the next team better, and a small specialty where one officer's work is visible across a whole hospital. The pay is fair for the band. The team size, the rota and the local on-call terms are what should decide the choice between two resuscitation posts at the same band.

Frequently asked questions

What band is a resuscitation officer?

Most resuscitation officers sit at Band 6, and lead resuscitation officers 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 a trust can employ a Band 6 resuscitation officer and a Band 7 resuscitation lead in the same service, with the lead carrying service responsibility on top of the clinical work.

How much does a resuscitation officer earn a month?

In England in 2026/27, a Band 6 resuscitation officer 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 resuscitation lead 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 resuscitation officers 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 resuscitation officer 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. Cardiac arrests do not keep office hours, so weekend and evening cover is a real part of the rota for officers who take a share of the on-call and response work.

Do resuscitation officers get on-call pay?

Many do, but the rate is set locally, so this page quotes no on-call figure. Resuscitation on-call arrangements differ by trust: some services pay an on-call availability payment plus call-out pay for attending arrests out of hours, others use a different model, and the frequency of call-outs depends on the size of the hospital and how the out-of-hours team is staffed. Anyone comparing resuscitation posts should ask for the on-call rota and the local on-call terms in writing, because two trusts with the same band and step can pay quite different totals once on-call is counted. The general on-call picture is covered in the on-call allowance guide.

Does a resuscitation officer 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 resuscitation officer at entry in inner London earns £47,950.80 in total, and a Band 7 resuscitation lead at entry in inner London earns £58,133, because the 20% supplement is capped at £8,746. A Band 7 lead at the top in the fringe zone earns £58,785 in total.

What pension contribution does a resuscitation officer pay?

Under the provisional 2026/27 England and Wales tiers, Band 6 resuscitation officers 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 resuscitation leads 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 provisional, calculated from the published 2025/26 tiers, and have not yet been formally published.

Do resuscitation officers 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. An officer driving 5,000 miles in a year receives £2,835: £2,655 for the first 4,500 miles plus £180 for the remaining 500. Motorcycle users receive 30p a mile, cyclists 20p a mile, and a passenger carried on NHS business adds 5p a mile. Mileage is an expense reimbursement, not pay, so it is kept separate from salary in every example on this page. Officers who cover several hospital sites or community training venues will claim far more mileage than officers based at a single site.

How does resuscitation officer pay differ in Scotland and Wales?

Scotland awarded Agenda for Change staff 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. Wales awarded 3.3% and applies a Real Living Wage floor of £13.45 an hour to the lowest bands. No Band 6 or Band 7 Scotland or Wales figures are quoted on this page, because the data file holds the nation figures for Band 5 only, and this page does not invent the rest. Northern Ireland has a 3.3% recommendation for 2026/27 that had not been implemented, so no 2026/27 Northern Ireland figure is quoted here.