Key messages to RCN members in Northern Ireland: regional on-call negotiations

The NHS National Staff Council has agreed that national protection for current on-call schemes ended on 31 March 2011.  After this date, a single new on-call scheme that applies to all staff within the remit of a particular employer will be negotiated, agreed and implemented in each HSC trust.

In Northern Ireland, negotiations are taking place through a partnership sub-group of the Regional Joint Negotiating Forum. The sub-group has failed to achieve agreement to date. Therefore, the current Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety recently extended the existing arrangements for a period of three months.

Trusts have been reviewing all current on-call arrangements for all staff groups within their organisation, including all protected Whitley schemes, local schemes and any hybrid schemes currently in use. The aim is to harmonise on-call schemes across all staff groups covered by Agenda for Change in the interests of fairness and to meet equal pay legislation requirements. Current arrangements and payments for different occupational groups vary widely within the HSC.

A definition of on-call and 12 principles have been agreed at a UK level. These principles are the framework upon which agreement will be reached on a new harmonised on-call scheme. Further information is available from NHS Employers.
 
To assist these negotiations, the DHSSPS, HSC trusts and the staff side unions have been carrying out scoping exercises to establish the existing on-call arrangements and associated costs. These include all arrangements that are currently described as on-call, such as stand-by or sleeping-in, as these are generally regarded as on-call. This is proving to be extremely complex as it is important all relevant (but sometimes hidden) costs are included, such as the time taken for compensatory rest or the cost of work done or lieu time taken. It has proven very difficult to establish this information from payrolls alone as payments for work done are normally recorded only as overtime rather than on-call.
 
Therefore, the sub-group has needed to be vigilant when considering costs as the DHSSPS has made it clear that the current overall costs will form the cost envelope for any new scheme and that there is no extra money for any new arrangements.

The RCN is represented in the regional negotiations by Deputy Director Garrett Martin and Alison Milliken, Trade Union Secretary with the Northern Health and Social Care Trust. Discussions are taking place among the staff side unions, who may have alternative preferred options. Local representatives must not engage in any negotiations with individual employers.

A limited number of proposals and options have been tabled for consideration. Reaching agreement on a system primarily weighted on an availability payment for each session of on-call, to payments for the work done when called into work, are proving challenging. Unfortunately, the sub-group has been unable to achieve agreement to date. When a reasonable proposal has been agreed, there will be a period of consultation prior to implementation.
 
Local RCN officers and trade union secretaries are making contact with a range of RCN members who are undertaking on-call work at the moment. While much out of hours work in nursing is done within unsocial hours, there are members who provide on-call cover outside the standard seven and a half hour day. These include nurses and HCAs who work in theatres, community, ICU and midwifery, as well as some nurse specialists and nurse managers. The RCN is trying to ensure that we scope the whole range of nursing roles to inform our position.

If you would like further information, email alison.milliken@northerntrust.hscni.net
or garrett.martin@rcn.org.uk.