3 March 2003
Andrew Foster
Director of HRD
Room 129
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London SW1A 2NS
Dear Andrew,
Re: Agenda for Change
I am writing to you to raise concerns on behalf of the speech and language
therapy (SLT) profession re: Agenda for Change. These concerns may prove
unfounded if there has been a misunderstanding about an inevitably complex
matter.
We applaud the philosophy and aims behind this policy to develop a pay &
conditions system that ensures there is equal pay as well as promoting
recruitment & retention for all staff including speech and language therapists.
However, there is much concern in the profession that SLTs may not be eligible
for the top end of the current band 4, all of band 5 and that band 3 will also
be affected. This will clearly not allow SLTs to maintain the same career
structure and earning potential as is afforded by the current pay bands.
The Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (RCSLT) is already hearing
from members that there will be an impact on retention of current staff if the
package offered has a negative affect on the recent pay settlements made for
SLTs. If the consequence of what we are hearing is true, we also believe that
this will affect recruitment and retention. One illustration of how this is
being interpreted is that people in the business field, who are keen to explore
the establishment of private SLT agencies, have approached RCSLT.
RCSLT have met with members of Amicus-MSF and we are working with them to
ensure that the current career structure is reflected in the job profiles.
Please let me know if you would like us to keep the Department of Health
involved or informed in this work. However, it would also be useful to meet with
yourself and Ben Dyson to discuss our concerns and to identify if there is
anything else we can do to support this agenda or to work with you to prevent an
out flux of SLTs into the private sector. It would also be helpful to discuss
our relativity with clinical psychologists who were our main comparators for the
equal pay claim.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Kamini Gadhok
Chief Executive - Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
c.c.: Ben Dyson, Branch Head HRD NHS Pay, Department of Health
David Amos, Deputy Director of HR, Department of Health
Colin Adkins, Amicus - MSF
Sarah Carpenter, Amicus – MSF