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Last trust shifts to Agenda for Change pay system

Nurses at Southend trust will now be covered by NHS pay and grading agreement
Southend University Hospital

Nurses at Southend trust will now be covered by NHS pay and grading agreement


Picture: Alamy

Nurses at the UKs only remaining NHS trust not covered by Agenda for Change (AfC) pay scales will move onto the system this year.

Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust will adopt the national agreement on pay, terms and conditions on 1 April.

A decade outside AfC

The trust has operated outside AfC for more than a decade. This meant its staff were not guaranteed the same pay rises as their colleagues at other trusts and health boards around the UK.

Last year, the trust agreed to mirror the agreement's pay rates and, following consultation with unions, has now agreed to move over fully.

In a vote, 88% of Unison members who work at the trust backed the move.

Consistency in salaries

Staff will now receive salary increases, along with better mileage rates and unsocial hours payments, where AfC terms are more favourable than local ones.

Unison head of health Sara Gorton said the change provided much-needed consistency for workers across the health service.

‘This is great news for staff in Southend, and indeed the NHS as a whole. Now a nurse, healthcare assistant or porter in Southend, Sunderland or Solihull will be paid the same rate for doing the same job.

Ms Gorton said staff are better protected if unions are able to negotiate pay conditions at a national level.

The trust was contacted for comment.


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