NHS Trusts
Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust: Pay
Last updated September 2026 · Independent guidance, not affiliated with NHS England or DHSC
Short answer
Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust pays on exactly the same national Agenda for Change bands and points as every other NHS employer in England. The point worth flagging clearly: no High Cost Area Supplement applies here. HCAS is tied specifically to London and its immediate fringe, not to coastal or southern locations generally, so a Band 5 role at Portsmouth is paid at the plain national Band 5 rate. Confirm your exact figure with the NHS Pay Calculator.
What kind of trust is Portsmouth Hospitals University?
As an acute trust, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust employs across the usual broad range: nursing in most fields, medicine, midwifery, allied health professions, pharmacy, healthcare science, and the healthcare assistant, administrative and estates staff needed to keep a large hospital site running. Our nursing and medicine guides cover how pay progresses band by band, which applies here just as it would at any other acute trust.
No HCAS doesn't mean a worse deal
It helps to separate two different things: the Agenda for Change rate for your band, which is fixed nationally, and the cost of actually living locally, which tends to be lower on the south coast than in and around London. A salary with no HCAS here and the same band salary plus Inner London HCAS can leave people in genuinely different financial positions once housing costs are factored in — it isn't simply a case of "London pays more overall."
Your employer, not just your role
Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is your legal employer if based here, which is what continuous service and any redundancy pay calculation would be based on — not "the NHS" as one single body. See our explainer on NHS structure for how trusts fit into the wider system.
Frequently asked questions
Does Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust pay any London weighting? +
No. High Cost Area Supplement is specific to London and a small surrounding fringe area, not to the South East generally, so Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust does not sit in an HCAS zone. Pay follows the standard national Agenda for Change rate for your band.
Does that mean pay is lower than at a London trust? +
The Agenda for Change band and pay point rates are identical nationally regardless of HCAS zone — a Band 6 here is on the same base rate as a Band 6 anywhere else. The difference is that a London trust adds HCAS on top; a trust with no HCAS zone doesn't, which is a difference in the supplement, not the base rate.
What kind of roles does a trust like this typically employ? +
A broad acute mix — nursing, medicine, midwifery, allied health professions, pharmacy, healthcare science, healthcare assistants, and admin and estates staff — on national pay structures.