I presume that these high earners are the top etchelon of the nurses , not the ones that do everyday things on the wards . In other words they are the administration .

Jim, Sidcup,

Health-care professionals earning more than City bankers?!

Well I never, isn't that nice to see! About time too!

Matt, London,

Some of my friends were offered work that will give them an income of about £10k a year as newly qualified midwives (a higher pay band than most nq nurses). Just because SOME earn huge salaries does not mean MOST do. That is, if they can get work at all.

Claire, London,

Having been a cardiac patient of the NHS I am very happy to pay doctors and nurses these kind of salaries. The work they do is far more valuable than any MP or civil servant.

Nigel, Shepshed, England

I think it's great that there is some incentive to these highly trained individuals, who have to make considerable personal sacrifices to provide such a useful service. Perhaps if we treated our doctors and nurses better, we'd have a better functioning NHS, and more people would want this job.

KL, London, England

The chairmen of banks make millions.That doesn't mean bank workers do. The average nurse (not nurse consultant) will NEVER earn anywhere near £100K.A senior nurse at the top of her band with years of experience would not earn £30k including nights .I know, I have my partners wage slip in front of me

rob, ashbourne, uk

Many nurses in this country do not feel that basic tasks that contribute to the wellbeing of patients are part of their remit. These things include ensuring that patients are washed, fed and hydrated. As a consequence many patients suffer. Is paying them too much the reason for the lack of care?

Peter, London,

Having had the misfortune to have been hospitalised twice this year I have nothing but praise for the nursing I received and am quite happy for nurses to earn the amounts indicated in the above article. They deserve it.

g.ware, York, uk

But what is wrong with a woman or man wishing to work all the hours they can to increase their salary. I would love to be able to do it, but as a teacher I cannot. Good luck to her

Keith Price, Luton, UK

This is the policy of our govt. to make rich richer and poor poorer. In this country university graduate live year after year without money and doctors and nurses get extra handsome salary to enjoy their luxury lives.

Bashirullah, loughborough, U.K.

You will find nurse consultants perform procedures and tasks traditionally performed only by highly paid doctors, so in reality a nurse consultant is a bargain at the price. I am a Registered Nurse in Australia and earn $32 an hour after 35 years experience. My roof painter gets $45 per hour!

paul ingleton, brisbane, australia

Engineers used to earn good money too,but the firms closed & they all went offshore. The day will come when everyone will work for the public sector. I think they call that communisum.

George Smith, Adelaide, Australia

I's a shame, one of the worst public health services in Europe, full of fat cats & ignorant people!!

I say: privatise the NHS, stop this circus !!

luis, sale,

I am an attorney at a large Manhattan firm - I make nowhere near this amount. After all, the British government has the luxury of using other peoples' money to pay these salaries. That's socialism for you.

Malcolm Watson, New York, NY, USA

I Think is is great that nurses are at last being recognized by society in the salary stakes. I only hope that by working all these hours overtime will not put the patients at risk.The hospitals are already a lost cause to MRSA and other bugs.Are these employed directly by the hospital or agency?

ann, london,

I am very glad to see that, without exception, all the comments here are supportive of some nurses being paid decent wages. In the private sector, the mantra of paying big salaries/bonuses as incentives to get the "best" staff is repeated ad nauseum!

F, London,

I agree with most of the comments already posted - NHS staff fully deserve good salaries. But Trevor says "curb consultants' fees." Perhaps if his wife, like mine, had just had a major life-saving operation performed by one of them, he might think differently.

Barry, Wallington, UK

Time for an alternative. The NHS cannot continue

Neil, Oxford, UK

Figures "suggest" dozens of nurses earn over 60k. OK, so why can't a few people at the top of a profession earn a relatively high wage? Why is this seen as generous and controversial, rather than a reason for those with high aspirations to stay within the NHS?k

N Cook, London, UK

The NHS is outmoded and terrible value for money - every British Citizens could be given comprehensive health insurance for a quarter the price we pay for this obscene White Elephant.

Andy, London, UK

Good luck to them ,Like Florence Nightingale,they are the Salt of the Earth,Worth their weight in Gold.Shame they start on a pittance.

Derek Bevan, Huntingdon , England

well all I can say is that to work in the NHS they deserve every penny they get. The thought of what they have to deal with on a daily basis from the increasingly awkward public makes me shudder. Well done to all of them. I feel sorry for the auxilary's, rubbish money and real hard work.

noel harris, newcastle upon tyne, england

It's heartening to read a good news story about people who are working hard and being justly rewarded for it during the hard times that many are having to deal with in the face of the greed of the few who brought it upon us. £100,000 annual salary for nurses? It ought to be increased!

John, Chadderton, UK

Bring back Sister, cut down on the bureaucrats, reduce free services to those coming from abroad, curb consultants fees and pay those who work in the 'core' of the NHS a good wage.

Trevor Dee, Torbay, UK

So who contributes most to society, the £100,000 a year nurse saving lives; or the £100.000 a week footballer kicking a ball around the field.

John Davies, Preston, UK

How ridiculous. So some nurses actually get paid well for doing a difficult, emotionally and physically demanding job, often working overtime and short-staffed without any renumeration. Please report something newsworthy.

Helen, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Most Staff Nurses are on Pay Band 5; £20-£26K - which they get after years of training and as a reward for taking life and death decisions often as the only "real nurse" on the ward. The majority of Ward Staff are on Pay Band 2; £13-£16k a year. Tabloid reporting at its worst, no facts, be ashamed.

Phil, Lancaster, uk

"The disclosure of nurses’ true incomes challenges the perception that they are all poorly paid." Worthy of the Daily Mail. Nurses are TYPICALLY poorly paid. What you have demonstrated is that there are exceptions to this rule. Some birds can't fly. Time to rethink our perceptions of birds?

Isa, London, England

What's the fuss? Are nurses and other health care workers not allowed to earn a decent salary? As I understand it, senior nurses usually have 2-3 university degrees and countless years experience. Lawyers can earn double that amount and no one bats an eyelid. How many lives do they save a week?

Rob, London, UK

Why should people in the Public Sector, who often provide roles that other people rely on for their safety and security and health, be paid peanuts? Whats wrong with rewarding the people who actually do something useful - as opposed to something that merely makes people rich - financially?

markreed, london,

Interesting how we don't see articles like this talking about the mega (the above is peanuts in comparison) salaries being paid to people who really make a huge contribution to society like currency traders and equity brokers!!!!! What a sad state of affairs.

Tom, Cheshire UK,

Excellent news. Good to see that nurses are able to achieve strong salaries; I would imagine it is a reflection of the individuals experience, knowledge and ability to assist the patients, and most importantly the extra hours worked

I would hope that such opportunities are available to all nurses

Colin (pom), Melbourne, Australia

Gosh, so dozens earn over £60,000 a year. That's really going to make a difference to the remaining 600,000 nurses. Want to know how much your ordinary local nurses actually get paid? Look at local job ads then hang your head in shame.

Sue, Birmingham, UK

The examples given here represent a minority of doctors and nurses. Junior doctors are now starting on salaries of about 20k with mounting debts often over 30k. The nurse is probably very specialised with a lot of skills doing a lot of overtime. Such an asset should be paid well.

Matthew, Liverpool, UK

The vast majority of nurses are band 5 (the old D &E grades) who do not meet the "average annual income". To give the idea that a few highly paid specialist nurses are representative of an entire profession is misleading and frustrating. Yes, pay has improved,don't make us guilty about that as well.

rosie, bristol, uk

I think it is execellent to see nurses earn good money. For too long they have been so short changed. The job they do is tremedous and I take my hat off to them. There are many so many professions that earn far more and this is unjustified. I can't believe it's made to look an issue!!!!

Alex, herts, uk