NHS Employers issues performance-related pay guidelines

5 Jun 14
NHS organisations have been issued with guidance on how to link pay to performance in a bid to ensure salary increases coupled to progression result in improved care.

By Richard Johnstone | 5 June 2014

NHS organisations have been issued with guidance on how to link pay to performance in a bid to ensure salary increases coupled to progression result in improved care.

Launching the online guide today, the NHS Employers organisation said a link between pay and performance was important for both patient care and to support morale and motivation.

The guidance sets out best practice examples of NHS organisations that have already introduced performance-related pay following reforms to the Agenda for Change employment framework agreed last year. These contract terms apply to more than 1 million staff in the health service, including nurses, scientists, therapist support staff, administrators and managers.

NHS Employers chief executive Dean Royles said some trusts had already taken steps to link performance to pay, with benefits including increased staff motivation, cost savings from avoiding overpayment of underperforming employees and improved performance management processes.

‘The mutually-agreed Agenda for Change framework has been constantly evolving since it was developed in 2004,’ he said.

‘Changes made last year give greater flexibility on pay progression. We now have an opportunity to use its consistency and flexibility to support improved patient care.

‘I know employers throughout the NHS want to deliver the best possible care to patients. We all know high quality appraisals are essential in a safe and modern NHS and this toolkit will help show how to better link pay increments to that process – something that historically has been an issue. Staff want to be rewarded for the work they do and of course it's really important we deliver this as objectively as possible.’

The advice stated that although linking pay progression to performance was a sensitive issue, tailored solutions could help introduce the system to meet local circumstances.

Among the advice provided was the need to ensure all changes formed part of an overall workforce strategy, and were only introduced after early engagement with trade unions.

The publication comes after trade unions warned they could take strike action over the Department of Health’s decision that staff who receive an annual pay rise based on progression would not also receive a 1% cost-of-living increase.

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