What notice do I have to give to resign from the NHS?

The figure in your contract. Most NHS staff under Agenda for Change have one month notice (Bands 1 to 4) or three months notice (Bands 5 to 9). Consultants and senior medical staff often have three to six months. Junior doctors in training have rotation-tied notice. Probation periods attract shorter notice. The contract is the source of truth.

How do I hand in my notice formally?

A written resignation letter, addressed to your line manager, copied to HR. The letter should be dated, state clearly that you are resigning, identify your role, give your final working day calculated from the contractual notice, and offer support with the handover. Most trusts use ESR (Electronic Staff Record) for the formal HR side; the resignation letter goes alongside it.

What happens to my annual leave when I resign?

Accrued but untaken leave is paid out in the final pay packet, or you can take some of it during the notice period with line-manager agreement. NHS occupational leave (the contractual extras above statutory) follows the same rule for the portion accrued in the leave year. Carry-forward arrangements vary; check your trust's annual leave policy.

Can I return to the NHS after resigning?

Yes, and many staff do. Continuous service is usually preserved for pay-progression purposes if you return within 12 months (this is the 'NHS reckonable service' rule). The NHS Pension Scheme normally re-links benefits across periods of service, although the specific link depends on which scheme sections you were a member of. Returning often goes through the standard recruitment route or through trust internal redeployment.

NHS Resignation Guide (UK 2026): Notice, Handover, Final Pay

Notice periods by role

NHS notice periods follow a tiered pattern. Read your contract; this is the source of truth. The typical figures are:

Bands 1 to 4: one month’s notice. Healthcare assistants, administrative and support roles, junior porters and similar.
Bands 5 to 9: three months’ notice. Registered nurses, allied health professionals, senior administrative roles, mid and senior management.
Consultants and senior medical staff: three to six months’ notice, sometimes longer for specialist or shortage specialties.
Junior doctors in training: notice tied to rotation. Three months is the common figure; specific arrangements apply for rotation transitions.
Very senior managers (VSM): often six months, occasionally twelve.
During probation (usually first six months): one week to one month depending on contract.

For the date arithmetic, use the NHS notice period calculator or the more general notice period calculator. The final working day calculator produces the exact end date with weekend and bank holiday handling.

How to hand in notice

The formal step is a written resignation letter. Most trusts use ESR (the Electronic Staff Record) for the HR-system entry, but a written letter goes alongside it as the contractual document.

A good resignation letter is short and unambiguous. Include the date, a clear statement of resignation, your role and team, your final working day (calculated from the contractual notice), a polite line about supporting the handover, and a standard sign-off. Avoid emotional content; the letter goes on file and may be referenced years later. Templates are available on the resignation letter templates page; the resignation letter generator builds a tailored letter from a few fields.

Address the letter to your line manager, copy HR through the trust’s standard channel. Hand it in on a Monday or Tuesday rather than Friday afternoon so the trust can start practical planning immediately.

Handover expectations

NHS handovers vary by role. Clinical staff typically have a structured handover process: induction of the incoming colleague (where they are already in post), summaries of current patients and ongoing concerns, completion of outstanding documentation, and a clean finish on shift records. Non-clinical roles vary but the principle is the same: leave the work in a state someone else can pick up.

The trust will usually expect you to use the notice period to complete a comprehensive handover document covering live projects, contacts, key dates and unfinished work. The handover plan generator produces a week-by-week template based on notice length.

During the notice period your contract obligations continue in full: you turn up for shifts, you complete the work, you comply with the dress code and clinical standards, you remain bound by confidentiality and (where relevant) restrictive covenants. Failing to comply can affect your reference and (rarely) lead to breach-of-contract claims.

Annual leave at termination

Accrued but untaken statutory and contractual leave at the end of the leave year must be either taken before your last day or paid out in the final pay packet. Most trusts prefer leave to be taken during notice where workload allows, although for short-notice roles this is not always practical.

The leave year in most NHS trusts runs from 1 April to 31 March. Your accrued balance at the date of leaving is calculated pro-rata: if you resign part way through the leave year, you accrue part of the annual entitlement proportional to the months worked. The holiday entitlement calculator handles the pro-rating for any pattern of work.

For staff with NHS occupational leave above the 28-day statutory minimum, the contractual portion may follow different carry-forward rules than the statutory portion. The local trust policy is the source.

Final pay

The final pay packet usually arrives on the normal payroll date after your leaving date. It includes: salary up to the last working day, pay for any accrued holiday not taken, any contractual bonus or unsocial-hours enhancement earned, and a refund of any uniform deposit or similar. Tax and National Insurance run through PAYE as usual.

The P45 is issued shortly after the final pay date and is needed for any new employer’s payroll. Keep it safe. The final pay estimator gives a rough net figure for the final payslip.

If you are owed any contractual extras (TOIL accrued and not taken, allowances) raise these with payroll before your last day. Disputes over final pay are easier to resolve while employed than afterwards.

References

NHS references are typically factual: confirmation of role, dates of employment, reason for leaving (where appropriate), and sometimes a short statement on conduct and attendance. Trusts have standard reference templates and the HR team usually completes them rather than line managers writing free-form references.

For consultant and senior medical posts, professional references through the GMC revalidation system are also required. These are separate from the trust employment reference and follow the GMC rules. Make sure both routes are in place before your last day if you are moving to another regulated post.

Where you have raised a grievance during your notice period, the reference can still only be factual. Trusts cannot provide a misleading reference; the duty of honesty applies in both directions.

Returning to the NHS

Many NHS staff leave and return. Two mechanisms ease the return.

Reckonable service. Continuous service for the purposes of annual leave accrual, sick pay entitlement and redundancy calculations is usually preserved if you return to the NHS within 12 months. This means a nurse with 15 years of NHS service who leaves for a year and comes back retains the 15 years for these purposes (not for pay-step purposes, which depend on the band-specific rules).

NHS Pension Scheme links. Pension benefits across multiple periods of NHS service can normally be linked, although the precise mechanics depend on which scheme sections you were a member of (1995, 2008 or 2015). Take advice from NHS Pensions before commuting any benefits on leaving, as this can affect future linkage.

Returning routes include open recruitment for advertised posts, NHS Professionals bank work (flexible shifts), and trust-specific return programmes (some trusts run return-to- practice schemes for clinical staff who have been out for several years).

Useful calculators

Related guides

Frequently asked questions

What notice do I have to give to resign from the NHS?: The figure in your contract. Most NHS staff under Agenda for Change have one month notice (Bands 1 to 4) or three months notice (Bands 5 to 9). Consultants and senior medical staff often have three to six months. Junior doctors in training have rotation-tied notice. Probation periods attract shorter notice. The contract is the source of truth.
How do I hand in my notice formally?: A written resignation letter, addressed to your line manager, copied to HR. The letter should be dated, state clearly that you are resigning, identify your role, give your final working day calculated from the contractual notice, and offer support with the handover. Most trusts use ESR (Electronic Staff Record) for the formal HR side; the resignation letter goes alongside it.
What happens to my annual leave when I resign?: Accrued but untaken leave is paid out in the final pay packet, or you can take some of it during the notice period with line-manager agreement. NHS occupational leave (the contractual extras above statutory) follows the same rule for the portion accrued in the leave year. Carry-forward arrangements vary; check your trust's annual leave policy.
Can I return to the NHS after resigning?: Yes, and many staff do. Continuous service is usually preserved for pay-progression purposes if you return within 12 months (this is the 'NHS reckonable service' rule). The NHS Pension Scheme normally re-links benefits across periods of service, although the specific link depends on which scheme sections you were a member of. Returning often goes through the standard recruitment route or through trust internal redeployment.

General information about NHS resignation practice, not legal advice. Specifics vary by trust, role and contract. For your situation, contact your trade union, the trust HR team or ACAS.