Non-NHS health workers to receive one-off lump sums

Tens of thousands of staff at non-NHS organisations including community nurses, physiotherapists and cleaners will soon receive two one-off lump sum payments worth between £1,655 and £3,000 after they missed out last year.

A payment of at least £1,655 was agreed for NHS workers as part of their pay deal in England, but thousands of outsourced staff such as physiotherapists, speech and language therapists and community workers did not qualify because they worked for charities, local authorities and social enterprises.

Health and social care secretary Victoria Atkins said: “I hugely value the hard work of all our healthcare staff, and those working in non-NHS organisations offer vital support to patients.

“I want to ensure that eligible staff receive these payments, which is why we chose to deliver this funding and why we have taken the decision to relax the financial eligibility criteria employers must meet.

“It will ensure that hardworking staff and the organisations they work for can fully benefit from the NHS pay deal.”

Last year, more than one million NHS staff on the Agenda for Change contract, including nurses, paramedics, 999 call handlers, midwives, security guards and cleaners, received two one-off payments alongside a 5% pay rise.

The payments originally only applied to those directly employed by NHS organisations but in November, the government launched a scheme to provide non-NHS organisations with funding to cover the cost of the one-off payments for their eligible staff on this occasion.

The government says the scheme is now complete and all organisations have been informed of their outcome.

The payments will be provided to organisations which deliver NHS and Public Health Grant services which employ their staff on “dynamically linked” Agenda for Change contracts.

Employers were required to prove they had been negatively financially impacted by the pay deal, and that their staff were employed on dynamic Agenda for Change contracts.

The Department of Health and Social Care has now agreed to additional funding for over 27,000 members of staff to receive the payments for 2022 and 2023.

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