When I started work in the NHS I was 16 years old and my take home pay was £23. I couldn’t join the NHS pension scheme until I was 18 when my pay would increase annually until I was 21. I began on the Clerical grade and over the next 25 years I would progress through at least seven old-style Whitley Council Administrative and Clerical grades. Whitley Council looked after pay grades for clerical staff, salaried doctors, nurses and midwives as well as ancillary workers such as cleaners and caretakers. The Whitley pay grade system continued until 2005. When I retired I was earning £23 per hour minimum.
Independent GP Employers reject Agenda for Change pay system
As independent employers contracted to the NHS, it was open to GP practices to set their own pay and contract conditions and/or eschew NHS pay and conditions. However, GP Employers still may not allow annual leave, sick pay and maternity leave etc with the rest of the NHS. GP Employers have seemingly taken advantage of employing part-time NHS staff to reduce Inland Revenue costs. I suspect that before the 2004 GP contract, practice staff mostly enjoyed comparable NHS pay rates, with poorer contract conditions.
GPs find staff pension scheme costly
Before 1997, GPs enjoyed the benefits of NHS pensions – their practice staff, however, did not. From September 1997 GP practice staff automatically joined the NHS scheme (unless they opted out). Some practices were reluctant to administer the scheme, mostly because the budgets offered to practice later in 2004 didn’t fairly reflect the employers 14% contribution. This may be one of the arguments for not supporting annual salary increases, especially since practices would need to find the 30% of staff pay out of their new budget. But that 30% was there, it was just always thought to be in their pay rise. These numbers certainly make it appear as if some GP’s are conveniently forgetting that these budgets were designed to fund the running of their practices, not increase their own personal profits. This April 2015 most NHS staff will receive a 1% raise, but will GP Practice staff?
In answer, one manager recently shared that she was laughed at when she requested payment to work extra ‘part time’ hours, whilst another had not had a raise in 4 years.
AFC – too much hassle to introduce!
The new system replaced numerous Whitley pay grades with a common banding system. In simple terms, AFC offered increments over a period of seven years, not five, but GP employers didn’t want to pay staff beyond the top of the old Whitley grades. I persuaded my employers to accept the new Conditions of Service, but could not convince them to apply the new pay grades. It was too much of a hassle, and some staff (nurses) may have earned less.
So what are practice staff missing out on?
Annual Leave
- 27 days < 5 years service
- 29 days < 10 years service
- 33 days < 10 years or more service
There are also 10 paid bank holidays
Sick Leave (paid)
“One of the doctors kept ringing me to ask when I was coming back. A colleague told me that he had said he wouldn’t have given me a sick note”
Employers Sick Pay Scheme | ||
Length of Service | Full Pay | Half Pay |
1st Year | 1 month | 2 months |
2nd Year | 2 months | 2 months |
3rd Year | 4 months | 4 months |
4th & 5th Year | 5 months | 5 months |
After 5 years’ service | 6 months | 6 months |
Maternity & family leave for carers, and compassionate leave is also given.
So are practice staff the Poor Relations?
After nearly 50 years working in both the NHS and general practice, I still cannot understand why GPs are not prepared to pay their staff NHS rates. Practice Managers, nurses and staff alike who must continue to work extended hours and weekends whilst keeping up to date with the ever-evolving systems that provide and monitor patient care. Now is this fair?
NHS Agenda for Change Pay Scales from 1st April 2015 |
||||
Pay Bands | Increments | Lowest Salary(Hourly Rate) | Highest Salary(Hourly Rate) | Example Posts |
Band 2 |
7 |
£15,100 (£7.74) |
£17,800 (£9.12) |
Clerical |
Band 3 |
7 (3) |
£16.633 (£8.53) |
£19,461 (£9.98) |
Secretary, HCA |
Band 4 |
7 (2) |
£19,027 (£9.76) |
£22,236 (£11.40) |
Treatment Room Nurse |
Band 5 |
8 (2) |
£21,692 (£11.12) |
£28,180 (£14.45) |
Manager – small Practice/ Nurse |
Band 6 |
9 (3) |
£26,041 (£13.35) |
£34,876 (£17.89) |
Manager / Nurse Practitioner |
Band 7 |
9 (4) |
£31,072 (£15.93) |
£40,964 (£21.00) |
Manager – medium practice |
Band 8a |
6 (2) |
£39,632 (£20.32) |
£47,559 (£24.39) |
Manager – large practice |
Band 8b |
6 (2) |
£46,164 (£23.67) |
£57,069 (£29.27) |
As above |
Note Increments – Number of overlapping increments shown in brackets
Full version can be found here:
www.nhsemployers.org
January 14, 2016 at 12:35 am
I have been employed for 34yrs at a practice as a senior receptionist .New management have taken over and new practice manager the contract state only statutory sick pay and my holiday entitlement they have deducted one week as I had accrued 6weeks having worked over 25yrs hols so now my contract States 5weeks only and statutory sick pay I have no one at work I can trust to go to how can I get help with my grievances .
January 11, 2017 at 7:58 pm
I am in the same position. I have been a Practice Nurse for over 20 years. I am getting a new contract which reduces my holidays to 5 weeks, regardless of how long I have been there. I don’t know where to turn either.
August 30, 2021 at 3:27 pm
My wife is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner for a GP’s medical practice. She has been told that no pay increases have been awarded to independent contractors, i.e. GP staff, as yet.
Is this correct? Should she return to a Trust? When she went there she understood that GPs were part and parcel of the NHS.