HR transition process workforce issues

Under reforms outlined in the Government's Health and Social Care Act 2012, there will be a significant transition process from the existing commissioning arrangements to the new successor organisations. Though clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will take over responsibility for commissioning the majority of NHS services in England, with primary care trusts (PCTs) due to be abolished by April 2013, there are also a significant number of other organisations that RCN members will transfer to.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 establishes 400 new organisations, which will take on the current responsibilities of around 170 NHS organisations and arms length bodies (ALBs) from 1 April 2013. Managing the transfer of functions and staff is complex and we are now entering the most significant phase of the change programme, implementation. 

The RCN's role

The RCN has been the leading trade union in the national negotiations around the HR transition process and maintains a very strong presence on the working groups governing the transfer to the successor organisations. The RCN continues to drive the agenda forward and will continue to input into the development of the transfer schemes, new HR policies and procedures for the new organisations, so that RCN members are not disadvantaged.

The RCN has a chairing role on the HR Transition Partnership Forum and also sits on the HR Concordat Steering Group and attends the Partnership Forums for NHS England (previously called the NHS Commissioning Board), public health transfer to local authorities and Public Health England. More details on the responsibilities of these bodies and the partnership arrangements in place can be found on the HR Transition Partnership Forum website.

Transfer schemes

The intention is that by 31 December 2012, all affected staff will know whether they are part of a function transferring to a new receiver and have a job or whether they will be at risk of redundancy and will be obliged to look for redeployment opportunities in the new receiver organisations. This presents a challenging timeframe and a huge amount of work will need to be completed over the remaining time period.  Some staff will be included in a "lift and shift" where the entire function will be transferred to a new provider, other posts will be filled through redeployment or job matching.

The details of the transfer schemes have now been finalised and the details confirmed as to how this will affect different groups of staff. We have prepared an update on the transfer schemes (PDF 32KB), which covers the basis on which staff will transfer, information around pensions and policies, and also explains some of the terms and jargon used in other documents.

Though potentially an employer may propose to make some changes post transfer, there may also be similar changes affecting members who have not transferred anywhere, given the current health care climate. We do offer the reassurance to members that the RCN will take action if their employer seeks to make changes by virtue of their transfer, and erode their terms and conditions of employment.

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