Many band 8 and 9 staff will receive an additional pay rise this November, after pay framework changes were signed off by unions and employers, HSJ reports.
In July the government “accepted in principle” an NHS Pay Review Body recommendation to add “intermediate pay points” to all Agenda for Change bands from 8a and above.
However, ministers said they would only proceed with the move if it was ratified by the NHS Staff Council, which is made up of union and NHS employer representatives.
NHS Employers has now confirmed the council has approved it, and associated pay — backdated to April — is due to be paid in November.
Bands 8 and 9 typically cover senior clinicians with some management or leadership role, and managers below director level.
It means staff on those bands will be due a pay rise after two years in the band, rather than five as at present. A band 8a earning £53,754 under this year’s bandings, for example, would be eligible for progression to £56,454 after two years, and then £60,503 following another three (see full table below).
NHS Employers said those due a pay rise because of the change “will be paid in November salaries, subject to successful [electronic staff record] development and testing”.
It said pay rises linked to the overall 5.5 per cent Agenda for Change uplift, which was confirmed in July, are due to be paid in October.
Details of how much of it will be funded by national government, rather than from within existing overspent NHS budgets, have still not been announced by government.
The move to introduce the new pay points follows several years of concern about pay pressure at band 8 and 9.
The Pay Review Body said the current five-year wait for progression, compared to two years at most lower bands, “means that in order to retain staff, some people are moved to a higher band without taking on additional duties”.
“Where promotion or rebanding is taking place on a more informal or unstructured basis, there is a risk of inconsistency and that promotions are not accessible to all in the same way.
“On this basis, we additionally recommend that an intermediate pay point is added at each of bands 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d and 9, to which staff should progress after two years at the respective band.”
It said: “For a number of years, we have repeatedly heard evidence from parties that staff are disincentivised from taking promotion from band 7 to band 8a, where the pay uplift can be as little as 1.8 per cent, and staff lose their additional unsocial hours payments and the ability to earn overtime.”
The NHS Staff Council has also been asked to explore further changes to “resolve outstanding concerns within the AfC pay structure”, but no further details of this have been issued so far.
Date: 29 August