The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7299 p595
15 May 2004

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DoH: Agenda for change (more)

Guild issues second warning on pay reform implementation

Hospital pharmacists working in the NHS should not allow themselves to be pressured into agreeing to inaccurate new job descriptions under pay reform plans, the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists has advised. This is the second time that the guild has thought it necessary to warn members that managers might try to sidestep the agreement staff representatives reached with Government negotiators (PJ, 6 December 2003, p765).

The caution comes as hospitals, other than the early-implementation sites in England, start to make moves towards a new unified pay structure agreed under NHS “Agenda for change” (AfC) proposals (PJ, 3 May 2003, p611). As a result, pharmacists will soon be asked to become AfC representatives and to reach agreements about what job groupings exist in their hospitals and to draw up new job descriptions and person specifications.

David Miller, the guild’s chairman of terms and conditions, said: “A lot of pharmacists outside the early implementer sites thought this was a long way off. The recent emphasis from GHP about managers and staff getting involved in the process, identifying ‘family groups’ and updating job descriptions and person specifications now becomes more relevant.”

Under the pay reform proposals, all changes are supposed to be made by management and staff in partnership. “It is likely some members will now be asked to expedite this practice-matching process and finalise job descriptions. Our advice is to ensure that this is part of an agreed staff-management partnership approach,” Mr Miller added.