Health leaders welcome government’s acceptance of Pay Review Bodies' recommendations for NHS Agenda for Change staff

Responding to the announcement that the government has accepted the NHS Pay Review Bodies’ headline pay recommendations for all NHS Agenda for Change staff, Rory Deighton, acute and community care director speaking on behalf of NHS Providers and the NHS Confederation, said:

“Health leaders will welcome the government’s confirmation of a pay award for all NHS Agenda for Change (AfC) staff in time for April given that for many years this has not happened before the start of the new financial year. NHS staff are the backbone of the health service and work hard to deliver high-quality patient care.

“While NHS leaders will be pleased that the health secretary has confirmed that the funding gap will be closed through central budgets given the reaction from the health unions representing NHS AfC staff, they will be concerned this does not go far enough to ward off the threat of further industrial action.

“Health leaders will also want to see this pay uplift recognised in contracts for services in primary care where pay for staff employed under additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) is aligned with AfC banding.”