- Conference
- 2022 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 9 December 2021
- Decision
- Carried
Administrative and clerical staff are at the heart of making the NHS effective, efficient, and friendly. But for many years admin staff have been under attack. Some staff have had vital tasks removed from their job descriptions, resulting in downbanding, others have taken on more responsibility or skills but have not seen their pay increase as it should have done.
A lack of planning across the whole of the NHS has resulted in seen many of these staff receiving little in the way of training or development, with few if any career development opportunities.
This lack of planning is compounded by the education attainment gap, particularly with lower paid women, where a lack of the formal qualifications required to apply for higher banded roles means NHS staff can become stuck and unable to progress, but they also are not able to access the in-house education and training that would help them attain those qualifications.
Without action, a huge part of our membership risk being left behind in roles that do not reflect their skills or potential, with little opportunity to develop their roles or their careers.
Conference calls on the SGE to:
A) Lead an occupation-focused campaign to improve admin jobs, improve career progression opportunities, and campaign for fair pay and rewards for administrative and clerical posts, including rebanding/regrading submissions for individuals and groups of staff;
B) Learn from existing initiatives and campaigns to improve jobs and career progression in administration roles, including the Transforming Patient Administration program in Scotland, and share best practice across the union;
C) Research the likely skills, knowledge, and experience that will be needed in administrative roles in the future, in order to guard against outsourcing and help ensure the fair grading of posts;
D) Recognising that admin staff often find it difficult to prove their knowledge and training is equivalent to a certain level of qualifications, make the case that “equivalent experience” should be used as an alternative to formal qualifications at all pay bands, where appropriate – not just at degree level and above.