Agenda for Change review’s recommendations to be fully implemented | News | Scotland | Royal College of Nursing

Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care Neil Gray MSP gave the green light for implementation to begin from 1 April in a letter to the joint health trade unions and NHS employers on Thursday (29 February). 

The recommendations from the review relate to protected time for statutory, mandatory and profession-specific learning, a review of band 5 nursing roles and a 30-minute reduction in the working week.

In the letter, the Cabinet Secretary outlines work that’s needed to support implementation. On protected time for learning, work will be needed on monitoring training completion rates during working hours and a ‘Once for Scotland’ approach to mandatory training with training passports.

Band 5 nursing staff will be contacted by their employer and invited to apply for a review of their role. If successful in their application, they will receive backdated pay from when it is agreed that they have been working beyond their job description, but no further back than 1 April 2023.

The initial 30-minute reduction in the working week will apply from 1 April 2024. Staff who cannot yet have their working week reduced by 30 minutes, for example, due to service pressures, safe staffing or wellbeing, will be paid overtime. This will be backdated to 1 April 2024 where payroll departments need time to adjust their processes. The reduction in the working week is the first phase of a process to cut the working week by 1.5 hours in total. The Cabinet Secretary states that work will begin to look at how the remaining reductions in the working week can be made effectively.

Commenting on the news, Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Director, said:

“It is great for our members working in the NHS that the Scottish government has finally given the go-ahead for implementation. 

“It’s taken longer than it should have given that the review presented its recommendations last November. 

“There should be no surprises around these proposals. These elements of the 2023/24 pay deal were fundamental to resolving the RCN’s dispute on NHS pay in Scotland and to preventing the historic industrial action experience in the other UK nations.

“Over the summer and autumn, the RCN worked intensively with the other NHS trade unions, the NHS employers and Scottish government to develop implementation plans. All parties were involved and at the time of negotiating, Ministers made clear that funding had been accounted for.

“Valuing and recognising the safety critical role of nursing staff, through fair pay and working conditions is key to retaining and recruiting the sustainable nursing workforce needed to meet the growing demands on our health and care services. I really look forward now to seeing the implementation process through so our members can realise these benefits.

“At the same time, we will continue to press the Scottish government to open negotiations for the 2024-25 pay award.” 

We will be supporting members through the implementation process – look out for emails from us and information on our website in the coming weeks. 

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