Second NHS trust seeks local pay bargaining

Another NHS Foundation Trust is investigating the possibility of ditching the Agenda for Change national pay framework, Personnel Today has learned.

Last month, Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust became the first in the country to abandon the system after staff voted in favour of a return to local pay bargaining. The move sparked fears among employers and unions that other trusts could follow suit and threaten the future of the much-heralded national framework.

Now Moorfields Eye Hospital has said it is looking at alternatives to Agenda for Change. Ken Gold, the hospital’s personnel director, said he was preparing a report looking at alternative systems to present to the hospital’s board early next year.

“I get the sense there is a desire among foundation trusts to move away from Agenda for Change,” he said. “You have to ask what you could offer, if anything, that was better.”

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Under the terms of Agenda for Change, foundation trusts are legally allowed some flexibility to negotiate pay and conditions locally.