Post by Deborah Udy Okusaga Akanne (@deborah_udy_okusaga)

There is money available in some NHS roles that does not appear in the job title, does not appear in the band description, and is not mentioned unless you know to look for it. It is called a Recruitment and Retention Premium — and most international clinicians have never heard of it.

Recruitment and Retention Premia — RRPs — are locally agreed supplements to NHS salaries, up to 30% of basic pay, applied to specific posts that Trusts are finding difficult to fill.

They are attached to the post, not the person, and apply to anyone who accepts the role.

RRPs have been used by NHS organisations across England for decades — designed to attract staff to specific services, locations, or specialties where domestic recruitment alone cannot meet demand.

Real examples from current NHS job listings include a Senior Mental Health Practitioner role carrying a £3,000 recruitment premium on top of a Band 6 salary, paid half on appointment and half after successful probation.

The specialties and settings most likely to carry RRPs are mental health services, community nursing in remote or rural areas, certain ICU and critical care posts, and specific geographic locations where NHS recruitment has consistently struggled.

They are not universal — approximately 0.6% of all NHS roles attract an RRP — but for candidates targeting the right specialties, they represent meaningful additional income that is entirely available and entirely above board.

The nurses who receive these premiums are not the lucky ones. They are the ones who knew which posts to look for and targeted them deliberately.

💬 Want to know which NHS specialties and regions most commonly carry RRPs and enhanced supplements?

Send me a DM- ENHANCED and I will send the 2026 Enhanced Salary Trust Guide.

#NHSSalary #RRP #ShortageNiche #InternationalNurses #NHSJobs #AgendaForChange #SovereignSpecialist

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