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