NHS Employers – the body responsible for managing workforce issues in the health service – has denied claims that ‘rogue’ trusts are failing to implement the new Agenda for Change pay structure.
Health service union Unison has threatened to withdraw its support for the Agenda for Change unless action is taken against NHS employers which it believes are not implementing the new pay system properly.
Delegates at Unison’s healthcare conference last month passed a motion to withdraw co-operation at a national level unless “the management of these rogue trusts are brought into line”.
NHS Employers denied there were ‘rogue’ trusts around the UK, but the organisation did admit that there might have been “some teething problems”.
Jeff Winnard, the NHS Employers spokesman for the Agenda for Change, said he could no comment on internal union matters, but emphasised that the system could only be implemented in partnership with all the NHS unions.
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Concerns about the NHS trusts and the Agenda for Change were also raised at the Royal College of Nursing’s annual congress last month.
About 1.3 million NHS staff are due to have switched over to the new system by the end of September 2005.
