Richard MunnUnion

Biography

Richard Munn is the National Officer for Health at Unite the Union, the role in which he joined the executive in 2020. He is Unite's principal spokesperson and lead negotiator on NHS pay, terms and conditions, and workforce policy across the UK. Munn has been consistently quoted in press coverage arguing that the NHS Pay Review Body process is "broken beyond repair" and should be replaced with direct government negotiations with unions. He has campaigned against planned NHS job cuts, opposed the creation of a separate pay spine for nurses outside Agenda for Change, and pushed for pay restoration for health workers following more than a decade of real-terms reductions. He also sits on the NHS Staff Council and appears on the NHS Employers stakeholder pages as a recognised national health sector negotiator.

References

1. 1.Richard Munn | NHS Employers — Confirms role as National Officer for Health at Unite the Union and that he joined the executive in 2020
2. 2.Unite members vote to approve NHS pay deal – Unite the Union — Confirms role and title; quotes Munn on the 2024/25 NHS pay deal and pay restoration
3. 3.Ditch unfit for purpose pay body – UNISON — Quotes Munn on the Pay Review Body and NHS recruitment and retention crisis; confirms cross-union campaign activity
4. 4.NHS Pay: Government needs long-term solution – Unite the Union — Quotes Munn calling for PRB abolition and direct union negotiations; confirms press contact details
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Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• NHS pay and pay review body reform
• Health workforce pay restoration
• Agenda for Change
• NHS staffing levels and safe staffing
• Trade union industrial action in health
• NHS workforce policy and restructuring

Notable achievements

• Led Unite's ballot of NHS members in 2025 in which members voted to reject the government's pay award, with Unite describing the result as demonstrating overwhelming opposition to the offer. Source ↗
• Joined with UNISON and the RCN in writing to Health Secretary Wes Streeting in November 2024 calling for direct pay talks with unions rather than waiting for the Pay Review Body process. Source ↗
• Represented Unite members in the September 2024 ballot that approved a 5.5% NHS pay deal for 2024/25, while calling for above-inflation rises to continue until full pay restoration is achieved. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “Ministers would need to use forthcoming talks with unions on long-promised structural reforms to NHS pay to address a series of grievances or else members will be left with little option other than industrial action.”

  National Officer for Health at Unite · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Health unions call 3.3% pay rise for 1.4m NHS staff in England ‘an insult’ ↗

• “To see cuts to any mental health service is unfathomable and unacceptable. Cutting mental health services will lead to exponentially greater costs to the public purse and lead to lives being destroyed.”

  national officer for health at the trade union Unite · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS mental health trust plans £25m in cuts to jobs and services ↗

Source references

1. Health unions call 3.3% pay rise for 1.4m NHS staff in England ‘an insult’theguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. NHS mental health trust plans £25m in cuts to jobs and servicestheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.nhsemployers.org/people/richard-munn
• Websitehttps://www.unitetheunion.org/what-we-do/unite-in-your-sector/health-sector
• Press office emailbarckley.sumner@unitetheunion.orgpublished here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.