Efforts to integrate health and care services will be
undermined if some health and care staff are awarded a pay-rise
while others miss out, the NHS Confederation has
warned.
The Government announced in March a pay-rise for all
employees on Agenda for Change contracts in publicly owned
providers.
Following lobbying from social care, voluntary, GP,
social enterprise, independent sector organisations and trade
unions, this was then extended to non-statutory providers of NHS
services who employ staff on A4C terms “dynamically” (those that
incorporate all new or amended terms agreed by the NHS Staff
Council into staff contracts).
However, according to the NHS Confederation, only a
limited number of non-statutory providers of care currently
employ their staff on Agenda for Change contracts on this basis,
meaning tens of thousands of frontline staff in the voluntary,
social enterprise and independent health and care sectors will
miss out.
The NHS Confederation is warning the uneven playing
field could destabilise the already fragile community services
sector where around half of all services are delivered by
non-statutory providers. Furthermore, it’s highly likely that
social care will face even greater difficulties in recruiting the
staff it needs if all candidates are not offered the same pay
deal.
NHS Confederation chief executive Niall Dickson said:
“This is grossly unfair. The pay award for those employed by NHS
trusts was welcome, but it fails to recognise and reward the tens
of thousands of other dedicated staff who are delivering
frontline NHS care in independent, voluntary, social enterprise,
and GP-run services. It also does nothing for nurses and others
in social care, which will exacerbate recruitment and retention
issues for those vital services.
“This is about more than just individuals losing out
– it has serious implications for the future of the health and
care services.
“As we try to move towards more joined up care, we
cannot have the government creating a pay system that sets up
artificial barriers between services, and undermines the very
policy it is trying to promote.
“If ministers are serious about developing services
that help to keep people in their own homes and in the community,
it makes no sense whatsoever to pay frontline staff in many
community services less than their colleagues in
hospitals.
“We are calling on ministers to look at this again as
a matter of urgency. They must make sure that future pay rises
are allocated and ringfenced through commissioners and the NHS
tariff. Only in this way will we make sure that all staff
providing NHS services are treated fairly.”
