Some NHS temporary staff miss out on full pay deal

Some NHS staff in England say they are not receiving an extra one-off payment awarded by the government as part of the latest pay deal for nurses and other workers such as ambulance crews.

The issue is affecting some "bank" staff, who provide temporary cover for hospital trusts to fill rota gaps.

Some say they have not received the lump sum, of at least £1,655.

It was part of the new pay agreement for more than a million NHS workers, in addition to a 5% rise.

The Unite union has accused ministers of a cynical ploy.

The Department of Health and Social Care said "a small minority of staff" who have chosen not to be directly employed by NHS organisations and instead benefit from being part of the flexible workforce, are likely to be employed on terms and conditions developed by local NHS employers.

"In these instances, it will be for the employing organisations to determine eligibility," a spokesperson said.

Under the new pay agreement, the government said all eligible staff on the Agenda for Change contract, including bank staff who also work directly for NHS organisations, will receive two one-off awards - worth at least £1,655 for full-time staff. This is on top of an award of at least £1,400 for full-time staff the year before, and a 5% pay rise for 2023/24.

One staff nurse, from Liverpool, has started a petition asking the government to ensure all NHS bank staff in England receive the non-consolidated payments.

Bank staff are not employed on the national Agenda for Change contract other nurses and healthcare staff fall under.

The bank allows NHS staff at a trust to work extra shifts - but some health workers work only for the bank, taking whatever shifts are offered, and some of these have found they did not qualify for the one-off payment, even though all their work is for the NHS.

Some bank workers are paid the same rates as staff at the same employer, with some holiday and sick pay.

But others, in exchange for flexibility over hours, can be paid more per hour though without the same employment protection.

Arrangements vary trust by trust.

Daniel Cartwright works as an NHS 111 call handler in a centre run by Yorkshire Ambulance Service. He is on a bank contract with no holiday or sick pay, but often does 30 hours a week on the same money as staff.

"I moved to the bank contract as I wanted more flexibility and to suit my personal lifestyle," he says.

"I did not want to commit to a set rota pattern and can choose my hours. I was shocked to hear I would not get the one off payment - it was not a nice feeling, especially as I was working more hours than some trust staff."

After support from his union UNITE, Daniel has now received the payment: "I am so much happier to have got it."

An official said: "Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust reviewed the contracts of its bank-only staff and determined that they should receive the one-off payment as per contractual obligations."

Northumbria Healthcare which runs hospitals in the North East has done the same.

But the trusts that have chosen to have to do this from their own resources.

Other employers have chosen not to and are being pressed by health unions to change their policies.

Unite says the government should extend funding made available for trusts to make the payments to staff, to allow them to include bank workers.

General secretary Sharon Graham said: "The cynical ploy of saying that NHS bank staff - or any other NHS staff - should get a pay increase on the one hand, but then refuse to fund it on the other, is yet another case of ministers robbing Peter to pay Paul.

"Telling local trusts that they must find cash out of existing funds means one thing and one thing only - more cuts to a health service already on its knees.

"More cuts means more overworked and demoralised staff walking away and on it goes."

A spokesperson for the union Unison said: "The union is running multiple campaigns urging trusts to give bank staff the lump sum and do more to persuade bank workers to become NHS employees. Then staff would receive every job benefit enjoyed by their directly-employed colleagues."

Health staff at other organisations, deemed "non-statutory", for example in nursing homes and GP services, have also missed out on the payments.

The NHS Confederation has called on ministers to intervene, warning there is a danger of a two-tier system being created.

The Agenda for Change pay deal covers most NHS staff, except doctors and dentists, who are on a different contract.

It was reached after a series of strikes by workers over concerns about rising inflation outstripping pay awards.

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