Letter from Malcolm Chisholm, Minister for Health
& Community Care, Following a recent meeting that the Chair
and Secretary of the Scottish Health Service Group had with
Malcolm Chisholm.
Jim Devine
31 March 2003
ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE POLICY
I refer to our recent meeting where staff side
representatives of the Scottish Partnership Forum (SPF) made
representations to Mary Mulligan and me to extend the provisions
of the NHSScotland Organisational Change Protection Agreement
to cover implementation of Agenda for Change (AfC).
I explained during the meeting that there are
a number of factors that I had to take into account in considering
your request, including the impact on the health budget.
I am sympathetic to your reasons for seeking this
move and I am keen to ensure that no member of NHSScotland staff
see their salary reduce because of the implementation of the
new pay system. At our meeting we discussed a possible compromise
option of extending the ‘mark-time' protection period under
AfC to forestall any such reductions for existing staff. As
was suggested, this would secure a ‘no-lose' guarantee in Scotland
as you go out to consult on the package.
We have discussed previously that there are distinct
circumstances in Scotland which do not apply elsewhere in the
UK because of the Organisational Change Agreement. While I do
not feel that we can extend the Organisational Change Agreement
to cover AfC, I am pleased to confirm that I have decided to
adopt the compromise option of extending the AfC ‘mark-time'
provision here in Scotland
MALCOLM CHISHOLM
NHS
Agenda For Change
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