What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Thousands of NHS staff will find themselves worse off despite the recent pay rise due to a little-known problem with their pensions, experts warned today.

Royal London said some staff will lose out because as they make more money, their pension contribution suddenly jumps up.

NHS guidelines show the contribution changes from 7.1% to 9.3% once pay rises above £26,824.

"This more than wipes out the value of the pay increase," the pension firm warned.

Policy director and former Coalition minister Steve Webb said: "After nearly a decade of pay squeezes, millions of public sector workers will have hoped and expected to see a meaningful pay rise this year.

"But because of the way in which pension contributions are structured, many thousands will see their pay rise wiped out in full or in part.

(Image: Dan Kitwood)

"Public sector employers have a duty to make sure that workers understand the impact of these factors on their take-home pay, rather than leaving them to find out when they get their first payslip at the new rate, which has been the experience for too many hard-working NHS staff."

More than a million NHS staff are receiving a pay rise backdated to April 1 after eight years of Tory austerity.

The deal was backed by every NHS union except the GMB after extensive talks with the government.

However, not all of the rise will be backdated for everyone.

(Image: E+)

A union chief issued an extraordinary public apology last month when thousands of NHS nurses discovered their pay rise was worth less than they thought.

Janet Davies wrote to Royal College of Nursing members to admit claims they'd all get a 3% summer wage boost were "not the case".

For staff in the middle of a pay 'band' - around half of nurses - some of their pay rise may only come as part of a regular annual increase called an "increment".

This increment is paid on a different date for each individual member of staff, with that date fixed on their NHS "anniversary".

That means thousands of staff may only reach their full new salary in October, November or December, for example.