NHS band 8 shake-up: new AfC pay points allow faster progression
Changes to Agenda for Change band 8 pay scale mean senior NHS nurses can progress more quickly, incentivising them to step up from band 7, a move that means loss of unsocial hours pay
Nurses in the NHS will now be able to rise more quickly through the band 8 pay points in England.
Members of the NHS Staff Council approved changes to the scale recommended by the NHS Pay Review Body (RB), which told ministers it was concerned the ‘best talent’ in the health service felt put off applying for promotion from band 7 to 8a because the step up only meant a 1.8% pay rise.
Faster AfC pay progression in band 8 should eliminate inconsistency and informal rebanding
The RB said the problem was compounded by the fact that staff moving up to band 8 lose their additional unsocial hours payments and the ability to earn overtime. So as well recommending the 5.5% NHS staff pay increase for 2024-25, the RB said the time it takes to progress through band 8 should be cut from five years to two, with an intermediate pay step-up added to the Agenda for Change (AfC) scale.
Its recommendation that an intermediate pay point be added in bands 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d and 9 will now be backdated to 1 April 2024. NHS Employers said staff should receive the backdated pay from the updated pay points in their November salaries – subject to Electronic Staff Record (ESR) development.
New Agenda for Change band 8 pay points
- Band 8a £53,755 rising to £56,454 after two years; £60,504 after a further three years
- Band 8b £62,215 rising to £66,246 after two years; £72,293 after a further three years
- Band 8c £74,290 rising to £78,814 after two years; £85,601 after a further three years
- Band 8d £88,168 rising to £93,572 after two years; £101,677 after a further three years
Source: NHS Employers
‘Staff at band 8 waiting five years for progression’
The RB’s report said: ‘Staff at bands 8a and above wait five years for progression, where staff at most other bands are eligible for pay progression after two years.
‘We have heard that these restrictions mean that in order to retain staff, some people are moved to a higher band without taking on additional duties. Where promotion or rebanding is taking place on a more informal or unstructured basis, there is a risk of inconsistency and that promotions are not accessible to all in the same way.’
This is an abridged version of the article NHS band 8 shake-up: new AfC pay points allow faster progression which was first published in Nursing Standard.
