In 2021, NHS England produced a report called “The future of NHS human resources and organisational development”. One of the recommendations was that a suite of people policies should be developed nationally.
Action 5
The national team, working with trade unions, systems and organisations, will simplify and standardise core NHS people policies and processes, to drive innovation, bring more consistency, support quality improvements, and ensure alignment to the People Plan and Promise.
Since then, a team in NHS England have been working to develop National People Policy Frameworks and so far, two frameworks have been launched, which you can find here NHS England » NHS people policy frameworks.
These National People Policy Frameworks have been developed by NHS England along with a wide range of stakeholders, including subject experts. Trade unions, including UNISON, have been engaged in developing the frameworks through the NHS Social Partnership Forum’s Workforce Issues Group.
However, these are not partnership policies that have been collectively bargained at a national level. They are described as national people policy frameworks to support local partnerships to develop or improve their people policies.
Each framework starts with a Statement from the NHS Social Partnership Forum, which says:
“This people policy framework has been developed with input from the national Workforce Issues Group of the NHS Social Partnership Forum.
Employers are still expected to follow their local procedures for collective negotiation and agreement on policies. For most employers this would be through the employer’s Joint Negotiating Committee.
The people policy frameworks can also be added to, or improved upon, through local discussion and agreement. Nothing in the national people policy frameworks automatically overrides local terms unless agreed at local level.”
Motion 47 to UNISON health conference 2024 sets out our approach to system, regional or national people policy development:
- Any policy frameworks introduced at England-wide, or England regional level must be subject to further discussion, development and agreement at local level, with full consultation in each employer between management and trade unions. Local employment relations machinery and collective bargaining must not be circumvented.
- Any development of England-wide, regional or national policy frameworks or tools should involve consultation with recognised trades unions. In the case of ICS–level frameworks, trade union stakeholders from branches who may be within scope of the frameworks or tools should have the opportunity to be involved in their development, with facility time provided to ensure they can do this effectively.
- Any policy framework introduced at England-wide national or regional level should be optional for employers and staff sides to introduce locally, and ICS’s should have no ability to ‘mandate’ individual NHS employers to follow them.
- All such policy frameworks or tools should seek to ‘level up’ to best practice, not undermine our members’ terms and conditions. All UNISON branches should negotiate on this basis.
We’ve also agreed principles for social partnership in workforce change through the Social Partnership Forum. These recognise the role of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in establishing effective social partnership arrangements at a system level, to ensure the workforce implications of system change are supported through partnership discussions with trade unions at all levels.
These principles also act to preserve the collective bargaining arrangements with trade unions in place in each organisation.
Social partnership between employers and trade unions is built on shared principles of trust and mutual respect; openness and honesty in communications, and a positive and constructive approach based on shared goals and aspirations.