Preceptorship and AfC accelerated increments

RCN Senior Employment Relations Adviser Gerry O'Dwyer advises…

Agenda for Change (AfC) provides for accelerated progression through the first two increments for staff entering band five for the first time - that is, providing that 'those responsible for the relevant standards in the organisation are satisfied with their standard of practice'.

AfC states that the 12-month period will be referred to as 'preceptorship'. Some employers have not implemented this as they should have done under paragraph 1.8 of the AfC Handbook. The reason often given is that the employer has no agreed 'preceptorship' process in place and therefore they have no process to satisfy themselves as to the nurse's standard of practice.

This argument is a red herring. The agreement says that the 12 month period will be referred to as 'preceptorship' - but does not say there has to be a process in place called 'preceptorship' or that any such process has to meet a particular standard. An employer cannot argue that a nurse who has been working for them for 12 months has not undergone a process to ensure that the employer is satisfied with their progress.

For this to be accepted, the employer would be effectively saying that they allowed a new staff nurse to work for a year without checking they were satisfying the requirements of their employment, working safely and competently and they were happy with their performance. So an employee meeting the requirements should receive their accelerated progression. If not, activists are encouraged to take up the matter with the employer.

This issue was raised again by the NHS unions at the September NHS Executive meeting. We are proposing that advice be issued to ensure consistency of payment by organisations. The extent of inconsistency will be scoped and discussed again by employers and NHS unions.