Health unions today (9 November) agreed to consult on changes to the Agenda for Change Agreement (A4C) in England which also commits the NHS employers to national terms and conditions.
At a meeting of the NHS Staff council today, all the health unions agreed to take the proposals back to their executives for consideration.
Christina McAnea, Head of Health at UNISON and chair of the joint union group, said:
“These have been very difficult negotiations. The main objective for the unions has been to maintain and defend national terms and conditions for our members. All the NHS unions have been fully involved in these negotiations which change elements of the agreement for some staff and crucially include a new commitment from employers that the AfC agreement will “continue to be used by NHS organisations”. Our response to these proposals will be dependent on making that commitment a reality.
“UNISON is clear that the evidence shows that the AfC agreement has delivered stability and fairness and allowed NHS organisations to recruit and retain high quality staff which is good for patients.”
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