The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has written to health secretary Steve Barclay, urging him to address the ‘two-tier system’ that has emerged in how the NHS pay award is being applied.
Most NHS staff are due to receive a non-consolidated bonus on top of the 5% consolidated pay rise for 2023 and a “backlog bonus” of at least £1,250.
However, the one-off bonus will only be applied to those on Agenda for Change contracts, excluding many staff working in NHS organisations including bank staff, and those delivering NHS care through organisations such as charities and social enterprises.
A petition urging the government to apply the non-consolidated element to bank staff who worked alongside Agenda for Change colleagues during the Covid-19 pandemic has received more than 20,000 signatures.
NHS bank staff pay
Include NHS bank staff in one-off payments, petition urges
The RCN said that many staff delivering NHS care who have been told they are not eligible for the non-consolidated award are on contracts aligned to Agenda for Change pay rates.
The RCN is one of the unions – together with Unite, the Society of Radiographers and the Royal College of Podiatry – to have rejected the NHS pay deal and is currently balloting on further strike action.
In the letter to Barclay, RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said: “RCN members employed as bank workers by NHS employers and those engaged on dynamic Agenda for Change terms and conditions by NHS providers have been informed they will not receive the lump sum payments in respect of 2022-23 and/or the consolidated increase in respect of 2023-24.
“Although the RCN has not been informed why, I understand this is due to funding. Our members are petitioning the government directly on this point and we will be working with the independent health provider network and the NHS Confederation and others to resolve this situation as was the case in 2018.
“If this situation is not resolved, it will create a two-tier system for staff engaged on Agenda for Change terms and conditions and will do nothing to quell industrial unrest regarding pay. It will also serve to increase reliance on agencies as encouraging workers to use bank systems, some of which operate well to quell agency costs, will only reduce further.”
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The Department for Health and Social Care has been contacted for a response.
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