NHS Pay

Theatre Nurse Salary UK 2026/27 (& ODP Pay)

FP FrontlinePay Editorial
Updated September 2026

Independent guidance — not affiliated with NHS England or DHSC

Perioperative (theatre) practice is unusual among NHS clinical fields in that two entirely separate professions — theatre nurses and Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) — do closely overlapping jobs, on the same Agenda for Change bands, but under different registration bodies. Searches for "theatre nurse salary" and "ODP salary" both land on essentially the same pay picture, and this guide covers both together, being clear about where the two professions genuinely differ.

Short answer

Theatre nurses (NMC-registered) and Operating Department Practitioners (HCPC-registered) are typically employed on Band 5 to Band 7 of Agenda for Change, on the same pay scale for equivalent roles regardless of which profession you trained through. For 2026/27 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, that spans £32,073 at Band 5 point 1 up to £56,515 at the top of Band 7, with senior/specialist scrub, anaesthetics or recovery practitioners typically at Band 6 (£39,959–£48,117).

England, Wales & N. Ireland (Band 5–7)

£32,073–£56,515

Full Band 5 to Band 7 range for NHS theatre nurses and ODPs in 2026/27.

Scotland (Band 6)

£43,231–£52,679

Band 6 range under Scotland's separate 2026/27 pay deal.

Theatre nurse / ODP pay points 2026/27 (England, Wales & Northern Ireland)

BandTypical perioperative roles2026/27 range (England)
Band 5Newly qualified theatre nurse or ODP, rotating across anaesthetics/scrub/recovery£32,073–£39,043
Band 6Senior/specialist scrub practitioner, senior anaesthetics/recovery practitioner, Surgical First Assistant£39,959–£48,117
Band 7Theatre team leader/coordinator, deputy theatre manager, advanced perioperative practitioner£49,387–£56,515

A smaller number of perioperative careers progress to Band 8a and above through theatre or directorate management, or advanced practice roles in pre-operative assessment and perioperative medicine — following a broadly similar leadership pattern to other acute nursing and AHP fields.

Scotland's rates

NHS Scotland's 2026/27 Band 6 runs from £43,231 to £52,679 under its own separately negotiated pay deal. See the full Agenda for Change pay scales guide for every band across all four nations side by side.

Two professions, one pay scale: what actually differs

  • • Theatre nurse — NMC-registered, usually from an adult nursing degree, then specialising into perioperative practice as a career choice rather than a separate initial training route.
  • • Operating Department Practitioner (ODP) — HCPC-registered, trained via a dedicated ODP foundation degree or BSc built specifically around perioperative practice from the outset, alongside other HCPC-regulated professions like physiotherapy and radiography.
  • • Shared ground — both rotate across anaesthetics, scrub/surgery and recovery, both are paid on the same Agenda for Change bands for equivalent posts, and both can progress into senior specialist, Surgical First Assistant, and theatre leadership roles.
  • • Genuine difference — separate regulators (NMC vs HCPC) with separate revalidation requirements, and ODPs' training is perioperative-specific from day one rather than building on a general nursing degree.

Theatre nurse

NMC-registered, usually from an adult nursing degree, then specialising into perioperative practice as a career choice rather than a separate initial training route.

Operating Department Practitioner (ODP)

HCPC-registered, trained via a dedicated ODP foundation degree or BSc built specifically around perioperative practice from the outset, alongside other HCPC-regulated professions like physiotherapy and radiography.

How pay progresses in theatre practice

As with every field on Agenda for Change, moving along a band happens largely automatically (subject to appraisal) until you hit the top; moving up a band means applying for and winning a genuinely higher-banded post. In theatre practice specifically, the realistic route looks like this:

1

Rotate broadly across anaesthetics, scrub and recovery

early on — most Band 6 posts expect solid, confident experience across more than one phase of theatre practice, not just a single area.

2

Specialise into a surgical specialty

(orthopaedics, cardiac, neurosurgery, ophthalmics, and similar) where a Band 6 post calls for it — deep instrument and procedural knowledge in a specific specialty is one of the clearest, most common routes to a senior scrub post.

3

Consider the Surgical First Assistant / Advanced Scrub Practitioner route

if you want to move toward direct surgical assistance — it typically requires accredited additional training and is a genuine Band 6/7 extended role distinct from standard scrub practice.

4

Build toward team leadership

(theatre coordinator, deputy theatre manager) if the management route suits you better than further clinical specialisation — this is the more traditional Band 7 path in most theatre departments.

ℹEmergency and trauma cover changes the pay picture more than the job title does

Whether you're a theatre nurse or an ODP, the single biggest factor in how much unsocial hours pay is realistically part of your role is whether your unit covers emergency and trauma surgery. A purely elective theatre list can run almost entirely during standard weekday hours; a unit providing 24/7 or on-call emergency theatre cover looks very different in terms of nights, weekends and on-call payments — worth checking on a post-by-post basis rather than assuming from the job title alone.

See your exact take-home pay in theatre practice

Compare Band 5, 6 and 7 take-home pay, including any on-call and unsocial hours enhancements.

Use the NHS Pay Calculator →

Get notified when theatre nurse/ODP pay updates

We'll email you as soon as the next Agenda for Change pay award or registration change is confirmed.

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Unsocial hours and on-call: depends on the unit, not the job title

As covered above, elective theatre work can run largely during standard hours, while emergency, trauma and obstetric theatre cover routinely includes nights, weekends and on-call responsibility. Where your unit does provide that cover, use the Unsocial Hours Calculator to see exactly what it adds to your basic Band 5, 6 or 7 salary.

NHS Unsocial Hours Calculator

See exactly what emergency, trauma or obstetric theatre cover adds to your basic Band 5, 6 or 7 salary.

Try it

Why you can trust these theatre nurse and ODP pay figures

  • ✓ Every band and pay point cross-checked against the confirmed 2026/27 Agenda for Change pay circular.
  • ✓ We're clear that theatre nurses and ODPs are separately regulated professions (NMC vs HCPC), not the same registration under different names, even where the pay and day-to-day role overlap heavily.
  • ✓ No NHS, DHSC, Nursing and Midwifery Council or Health and Care Professions Council affiliation — an independent, source-checked reference, not official guidance.
  • ✓ Updated within days of a new pay award, banding change or registration rule being confirmed.

More on nursing, AHP pay and the tools that go with it

Nursing Pay and Careers

How progression and specialisms work for theatre nurses and beyond.

Operating Department Practitioner (ODP) Salary

The dedicated ODP pay guide — the 2024 HCPC degree change, and how it differs from theatre nursing.

Allied Health Professional Pay

How HCPC-regulated professions like ODPs fit the wider AHP pay picture.

NHS Pay Calculator

Your exact take-home pay at any band and point.

NHS Band 5 Salary 2026/27

Full pay points for newly qualified theatre staff.

NHS Band 6 Salary 2026/27

Senior/specialist scrub and anaesthetics practitioner pay.

NHS Band 7 Salary 2026/27

Theatre team leader and coordinator pay.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between a theatre nurse and an ODP? +
A theatre (perioperative) nurse is a registered nurse — usually adult field — with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), who has chosen to specialise in the operating theatre environment. An Operating Department Practitioner (ODP) is a separate, distinct profession trained specifically for perioperative practice, registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) rather than the NMC. Both work across the same three theatre phases — anaesthetics, scrub/surgery and recovery — and are typically paid on the same Agenda for Change bands for equivalent roles, but they hold different professional registrations and, in ODPs' case, a different foundation qualification (a specific ODP degree rather than a nursing degree).
What does a newly qualified theatre nurse or ODP earn? +
Both newly qualified theatre nurses (NMC-registered) and newly qualified ODPs (HCPC-registered) typically start at Band 5, point 1 — £32,073 a year in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 2026/27. The starting pay is the same regardless of which of the two professional routes you trained through.
What are the three theatre practice areas, and does pay differ between them? +
Anaesthetics (supporting the anaesthetist and monitoring the patient during induction and throughout surgery), scrub/surgery (working directly at the sterile field, passing instruments and managing the surgical field), and recovery/PACU (post-anaesthesia care, monitoring patients as they wake and stabilise). Most theatre staff, whether nurses or ODPs, rotate across all three areas, especially earlier in their career, and Agenda for Change doesn't pay one area more than another at the same band — the pay difference is about seniority and specialism, not which of the three areas you're working in on a given day.
What band is a senior/specialist scrub practitioner? +
Senior scrub nurse/ODP roles — often specialising in a specific surgical specialty such as orthopaedics, cardiac, neurosurgery or ophthalmics — are typically Band 6, reflecting the technical depth and instrument knowledge that specialty scrub work requires, alongside supervisory or mentoring responsibility for more junior staff.
Can theatre practitioners become Surgical First Assistants or Advanced Practitioners? +
Yes. Surgical First Assistant (or Advanced Scrub Practitioner) is an established extended role — usually Band 6 or 7 — where an experienced theatre nurse or ODP takes on tasks traditionally done by a junior surgeon's assistant, such as tissue retraction, wound closure and direct surgical assistance, typically requiring additional accredited training. Some theatre practitioners also progress into broader Advanced Clinical Practice roles at Band 7/8a, particularly in pre-operative assessment or perioperative medicine.
Do theatre staff get unsocial hours pay? +
It depends on the specific unit and whether emergency/trauma theatres are covered. Elective (planned) theatre lists commonly run largely daytime, weekday hours with limited unsocial hours exposure. Emergency theatres, trauma lists, obstetric theatres and any unit providing 24/7 or on-call cover for emergency surgery do attract standard Agenda for Change unsocial hours and, in many units, an additional on-call allowance — so the working pattern, more than the job title, determines how much unsocial hours pay is realistically part of the role.
How quickly can theatre staff reach Band 6? +
There's no fixed or guaranteed timeline. In practice, most Band 6 senior/specialist scrub, anaesthetics or recovery posts expect solid, broad experience across theatre lists and often a specific surgical specialty focus, which for many practitioners takes a few years to build — but it depends heavily on local vacancy timing and specialty demand rather than a fixed number of years of service.
Do ODPs and theatre nurses have the same registration requirements? +
No — they're registered with different bodies. ODPs must maintain registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), which also regulates professions such as physiotherapists, radiographers and paramedics. Theatre nurses maintain their registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the same regulator covering all fields of nursing and midwifery. Both registrations carry ongoing revalidation requirements, but through separate processes specific to each regulator.
Can an ODP move into anaesthetic practitioner roles more easily than a nurse can? +
Not necessarily by profession alone — both theatre nurses and ODPs commonly rotate through and specialise in the anaesthetics phase of theatre practice, and Anaesthesia Associate (a newer, distinct advanced role, separately regulated) is open to suitably experienced practitioners from either a nursing or ODP background who complete the required postgraduate training, rather than being restricted to one route.
How does Scotland pay theatre staff compared with England? +
The band structure is UK-wide, but the actual figures differ under Scotland's own pay deal. For 2026/27, NHS Scotland's Band 6 runs from £43,231 to £52,679, against £39,959 to £48,117 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Free download: 2026/27 Agenda for Change pay scales

One page, every band, annual and hourly. We'll also email you when a pay award, back pay date or pay-scale change is confirmed.

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