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Non-pay elements progress - Welsh government NHS Agenda for Change offer 2022/23

Below you can find information on the status of each non-pay element in the latest Welsh government offer and our workstream priorities


Need a refresher? Watch our non-pay element explainers on our YouTube channel

Payments for unsocial hours during sickness absence were reinstated after one week’s sickness absence from March 2023.  This will be subject to a review this spring.  A commitment has been made to the reinstatement of these payments after three weeks’ sickness absence irrespective of the outcome of the review.

Working group set up to review and consider career progression arrangements and opportunities starting with nurse and other health care professional’s progression from graduate entry level band 5 to 6.  There is a shared aim of improving ability for individual progression in their professional field/staff group, valuing experience and role development through the development of a framework. 

Initial Nurse preceptorship project complete, recommendations supported by Minister & Directors of Nursing and being implemented at organisational level. The aim of this work is for the national roll out of a consistent approach to preceptorship and clinical supervision.

A partnership Job Evaluation/Job Description review group has been set up.  A Joint Policy Statement regarding the need to ensure roles are well designed, in line with the role profiles and that day-to-day expectations fit with the pay band of individuals has been agreed.  A review is then planned which will develop proposals for the implementation of All-Wales Job Descriptions for high priority, high volume roles to support fairness, equity, flexibility, and portability across NHS Wales, together with proposals for an All-Wales Job Description Review policy.

A Welsh Partnership Forum joint statement in support of providing opportunities for flexible working was published in June 2023 incorporating the need for organisations to adhere to the Retire and Return minimum standards. The new All Wales Flexible Working policy has been agreed at the full Welsh Partnership Forum and issued to the Service for implementation.

A joint working group has been established.  The group is currently undertaking a watching brief of NHS Scotland who are further ahead in their considerations.  NHS organisations are also carrying out work at local level to understand local implications.  A report will be developed by the end of March 2024 to support Business Committee consideration of whether a 36-hour working week is feasible, affordable and an agreed priority for all partners within NHS Wales.

A partnership group has been established including expertise from NHS Organisations as well as NHS Executive financial and workforce planning specialists. Following discussions, a Welsh Health Circular was issued on 13th December (All-Wales control framework for flexible workforce capacity (WHC/2023/046) | GOV.WALES) which sets out a phased approach of co-ordinated action to reduce expenditure on agency staff within NHS Wales.

  

A key objective for this work is “transparent, consistent, and equitable application of existing agreed national terms and conditions, ensuring we pay our employed workforce for their contractual and any additional hours worked at the appropriate contractual rate and with clear rates”.

HEIW has published a Nurse Retention Plan (The NRP) following significant engagement and agreement with partners.  This has been shared with CEOs, WODs and Retention leads in delivery organisations as part of a new National Retention Programme of work. The 2-year programme provides funding for a retention lead role to be recruited in each organisation, a suite of tools and resources and the establishment of a retention community of practice to share best practice and support delivery, improvement, and evaluation. The NRP is a key deliverable from phase 1 of the Strategic Nursing Workforce Plan currently under development.  

Business cases for the introduction of any Recruitment and Retention Payments (RRPs) are routinely presented to the Welsh Partnership Forum Business Committee for approval in line with the protocol.  A communication has been issued to all W&OD Directors advising them of when it is appropriate to use RRPs (referencing the need to ensure that job descriptions are up to date and matched appropriately) and reminding them of the approval mechanism.

A partnership group has been established to take forward the development of an All-Wales Pension Flexibilities policy.  Reference to retire and return/partial retirement will be included in this policy.  It is anticipated that a jointly agreed policy statement will be issued in January 2024 and the policy itself in February 2024.

Significant work in the area of health and wellbeing is being taken forward at both All-Wales and organisational levels. Several elements of the National Workforce Implementation Plan are relevant to delivery of this item of the non-pay agreement as are a number of local initiatives developed under compassionate management and general health and wellbeing plans. The draft health and wellbeing framework – an action from the Workforce Strategy for Health & Care and the National Workforce Improvement Plan - has been developed in partnership and will be shared for agreement at the next WPF meeting. A partnership group is being established to review returns from the Local Partnership Forums which are relevant to health & wellbeing and to liaise with service co-ordinating groups in order to provide assurance / make recommendations on further steps as required.

 

  • a tripartite occupational health group has been set up to develop and establish a control framework for occupational health services that sets:

 

  • the scope of Occupational Health Service delivery and minimum service levels (this would include where it makes sense to collaborate on a regional NHS, regional public sector or national NHS basis)
  • core service access and reporting key performance indicators for referrals
  •  quality assurance standards (informed by the SEQOHS Self-Assessment Framework)
  • reporting and publication of performance information
  • a method for highlighting where a service may be struggling or not delivering against standards and a support mechanism to enable them to get back on track or to identify that more fundamental action is required
  •  a plan and timetable to support all organisations to achieve SEQOHS Accreditation (timescale subject to identification of targeted resource to ensure focus on service delivery is not diluted).

Health Education and Improvement Wales is leading on the development of a CPD strategy for NHS Wales and consultation is about to begin with the strategy likely to be published in advance of the August 2024 deadline. 

A partnership group has been established to provide assurance that the commitments made in the non-pay element of the agreement with regard to protected time for CPD are being delivered.

The Welsh Partnership Forum hub has been developed and is hosted on the NHS Wales Employers website Welsh Partnership Hub (WP-HUB) | NHS Confederation. A process for dealing with situations where there is disagreement over the interpretation of an agreed policy within an NHS organisation has been developed and is included in the Protocol for the Review & Development of All Wales policies.

An All-Wales escalation policy has been developed by operational leads, with wider nursing and other executive director level involvement.  There is also direct social partner involvement in groups developing definitions and approaches impacting the non-pay agreement (exceptional circumstances through the named responsible executive for corridor care etc and “must not dos” in terms of care in inappropriate settings).

Welsh Government has committed to the principle of pay restoration to 2008 levels. A collective Welsh Partnership Forum trade union side position on the effectiveness of the Pay Review Body process for future years is being sought and a tripartite meeting has been held.

Page last updated - 28/02/2024

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