NHS Agenda for Change review: scope

Fair recognition of skills and experience

Job growth/career progression

Staff side position

Parity across professions and staff groups is of fundamental importance. To achieve this parity and to deliver equality-proofed profiles and job descriptions, we require responsive, objective and consistent processes and practices. Current practice – which is too often restrictive, subjective and open to bias – therefore requires to be reviewed and tightened and job descriptions require to be kept under regular review.

Additionally, AfC workers need to have confidence that their professional growth will be recognised and rewarded. It is the Staff Side view that this will be best achieved through an accelerated career progression model which will recognise the rapid accumulation of additional skills. This would resolve issues created by the impact of the ‘growing’ job on Band 5 and 6 roles – an impact that has diminished recognition and reward for the jobs being undertaken and which has, in turn, negatively impacted recruitment and retention for those roles.

The review work in respect of band 5 nursing that has already been committed to, also applies to other disciplines and reflects a need at other points across the banding structure in a range of groups. For example: within Midwifery, Radiography, Physiotherapy, other AHPs and biomedical Heads of Agreement – NHS Agenda for Change 9 sciences - further examples incremental of situations where role growth is not being recognised and is negatively impacting on the retention of staff, will be provided.

This work is urgent - especially across professions and roles that are currently experiencing recruitment and retention difficulties.

For complete clarity this will apply to other roles across the grading structure. Utilisation of the framework agreed, as was applied when the revised profiles were implemented for band 2/3 will provide a foundation for progression of the work.

Employers position

Employers see the value in targeted creation of progression routes. Reviewing the distribution of grades/bands across NHS Boards and identifying any inconsistencies. Employers also noted that reviewing current job descriptions/profiles are key in ensuring roles are still fit for purpose.

Operation of the job evaluation scheme

Staff side position

Staff Side is committed to the current AfC job evaluation process but recognise there are significant issues across NHS Scotland with consistency of application.

There is a shared Staff Side view that the scheme is not consistently applied across employers and further work is necessary in respect of demonstrating that NHS roles have consistent banding outcomes across the health systems within Scotland.

Staff Side wish to seek a single, Scotland wide policy to be universally applied across all NHS employers in Scotland in respect of the operation of the AfC Job Evaluation system arrangements.

Employers position

Employers have indicated their preference for a Once for Scotland system for Job evaluation to prevent grade inflation and ensure that roles are graded fairly. They have also highlighted significant benefit through resource savings for HR teams through a single approach.