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‘We fought for band 3 status because we deserve it’
Three groups of RCN nursing support worker members denied a long overdue re-grading and pay rise by their NHS trust have won their appeals against the decision.
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Nursing support worker and student Fiona Heaton, right, with Prof Nicola Ranger, RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Nottinghamshire originally omitted band 2 health care support workers in its adult critical care service and theatres and on its staffing bank from the scope of a job evaluation review designed to ensure those who carry out clinical duties are correctly graded at a higher pay band compared to those who provide personal care only.
Supported by the RCN, each group of excluded members challenged the trust’s decision to re-band support workers in other areas but not theirs, evidencing the vital clinical tasks they do that evaluate at band 3 level, such as observing patients and taking their blood pressure.
The trust has now declared each group to be eligible for the uplift after all, meaning they will receive a pay rise. Permanent staff in adult critical care and theatres will also receive back pay dating as far back as 2021 for the longest serving.
2021 is when the NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group clarified the key differences between the two bands and reminded employers to ensure support workers were correctly graded, yet some NHS trusts have still not applied the changes nearly four years later.
'Disheartening'
Fiona Heaton, a bank worker at the trust and nursing student, said: “As bank workers, we were informed we weren’t eligible for re-banding and would be required to undertake a ‘Care Giver’ role with no clinical duties.
"It was hugely disheartening to not be considered as in-scope for re-banding alongside our substantive colleagues because we provide just as invaluable a skill set in the clinical environment.
"But it became clear that the decision to exclude bank staff and to change their role to a non-clinical specification was not productive either for staffing or patient safety.
"It was having a negative impact on staff of all levels and roles, and I felt it was time for change and action. With the support of the RCN, we had an opportunity collectively for our voices to be heard.
"This welcome outcome represents long overdue recognition of our contribution. We are professionals who consistently step in to maintain safe staffing levels, ensure continuity of care and support our colleagues during times of pressure."
Professionalism
Sam Harris, RCN Organiser in the East Midlands region, paid tribute to the professionalism and resolve of the members involved in securing each of the breakthroughs.
He said: "It’s bad enough that it’s taken so many employers so long to meet their responsibility to evaluate their support worker posts afresh and ensure they are no longer underpaying staff who perform clinical duties.
"What was worse for these members is that they faced a double whammy; their trust had decided it wasn’t even going to re-band them.
"Yet within a few hours of learning their fate the members started to organise their objection, signing up for persuasive collective appeals which, in the case of the staff in theatres, was mounted with support from colleagues in the GMB union.
"Their successful pursuit of nothing less than to be treated fairly and equitably is a credit to them."
