New discussion documents published

Up to 6,000 NHS jobs could be safeguarded by NHS employer group

South West consortium publishes latest reports

The South West Pay Terms and Conditions Consortium (SWC) has released two new discussion documents outlining the challenges facing the NHS and how pay, terms and conditions can support sustainable health services and employment now and in the future.

The consortium comprises senior representatives from 20 NHS trusts and has been established in response to the serious financial and operational challenges facing the NHS.

The consortium steering group is responsible for identifying how taxpayer funding may be more efficiently used in order to protect both employment and the continued delivery of high quality healthcare.

The documents released today explore areas in which changes to pay, terms and conditions may support member trusts in safeguarding employment and health services for the years ahead. They also look at the economic, service and financial challenges NHS trusts face in the South West.

The consortium’s research has revealed the scale of the savings challenge facing the NHS in the South West over the next three years, equivalent to around 6,000 posts, measured at an average employer full cost of £40,000 per year.

The consortium believes the challenge can be significantly addressed by exploring options around pay, terms and conditions without the need for a large reduction in staff numbers.

The two documents contain no proposals or recommendations, and aim to generate debate and engagement among staff and their representatives within member organisations.

Feedback gathered will contribute to a full business case, which will contain a series of recommendations to be presented to each Trust’s board for discussion later this year.

Chris Bown, chief executive at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, is the consortium steering group chairman.

“These documents demonstrate our commitment to meet the unprecedented challenges facing the NHS in the South West,” he said.

“While neither document contains proposals or decisions, they do demonstrate the scale of the issue facing employers, and in turn, employees and patients.

“We hope by releasing these documents proactively we can generate meaningful debate as we look at ways of ensuring the NHS in the South West has a bright and sustainable future.”

“Consortium trusts are fully supportive of the national negotiations between employer representatives and unions which are looking at modernising the current Agenda for Change pay model. We believe we can and should work in the background as these discussions continue to give us the best opportunity to be sustainable organisations in the years ahead.

“By promoting financially healthy NHS organisations we can preserve employment and reduce the need for redundancies.

“Our analysis shows that up to 6,000 NHS jobs in the South West may be safeguarded by changes to staff pay, terms and conditions.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors: