NHS skills premium “has no opt-out”

An employment tribunal has held that NHS trusts cannot opt out of paying a nationally agreed recruitment and retention premium to skilled workers.

The ruling came in a case brought by technical and professional union Amicus (now part of the new union Unite) against Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It means that approximately 7,500 technicians, electricians and plumbers working in the NHS are all eligible for the payment of £2,972 a year, as set out in the “Agenda for Change” agreement.

Kevin Coyne, Unite’s head of health, expressed disappointment that the trust had spent a large sum of money on the case rather than on improving patient care, but said the ruling “sends a very clear message to trusts that they cannot just pick and choose from national agreements”.