An extra £30m will be given to the NHS to help the implementation of Agenda for Change, the government announced last week.
John Hutton, UK health minister, said the funding would go towards compensating the NHS for the time staff spend negotiating or implementing the national pay structure initiative.
For example, he said, it will allow them to employ locums for the time staff are involved in sitting on job evaluation boards or negotiating local implementation deals.
“Because Agenda for Change is not just about pay, but also a new partnership between staff and employers, I can confirm that additional resources of around £30m will be made available to support Agenda for Change’s implementation,” Hutton said.
“The costs incurred by NHS organisations in releasing key trade union representatives to participate in the implementation of the new pay system will be the first priority for the extra resource,” he added.
Andrew Foster, NHS head of HR, recently admitted that the health service will miss its September deadline for having all staff covered by Agenda for Change.
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www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/HumanResourcesAndTraining/ModernisingPay/AgendaForChange
