Hundreds of NHS Staff Paid to Spend Time on Trade Union Activities
11th April 2026
Hundreds of NHS staff spend the majority of their time at work on trade union-related activities, data reveals.
Taxpayers have footed a £100 million bill for so-called facility time across the NHS since 2020 to allow union officials paid time off work for union activities.
Some 305 NHS employees had permission to spend more than half of their working hours on union-related activity, including 172 people who are full-time trade union organisers paid by a hospital or ambulance service.
Overall, 2,978 NHS staff received permission to spend at least some of their working hours on so-called facility time in the year ending March 2025, according to the latest available data published by the Cabinet Office.
U.S. government unions work the same scam.