FACTSHEET
Job Profiles - Speech & Language Therapy

Currently there are three draft profiles at bands 5,6 and 7 for Speech and Language Therapist, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist and Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist. See attached. Four profiles have been agreed for generic Clinical and Professional Managers at bands 8A to 8D.

Colin Adkins advice is that if correctly managed, profiles at band 5,6,7 could be signed off with the appropriate joint guidance from Amicus / RCSLT. Guidance will be produced to manage the application of these profiles, which would only be applied to postholders practising at current Band two level and below. If applied in keeping with Amicus guidance postholders matched to these profiles should not lose out on pay. Work is in progress to ensure that SLTs with management responsibility can be successfully matched with the Professional manager profiles Band 8A to 8D.

Commitments have been given that a Consultant level SLT profile is being progressed.

The one gap exists at principal SLT level and a meeting has been arranged with Amicus, RCSLT and DoH to develop a profile which will go to the JEWP by 30th Sept.

The National Advisory Committee has determined that consultation will take place throughout the regions. Regional Occupational Advisory Committees are therefore required to consult on the profiles and to report back to the next NAC on 16th October in London.

OACs are reminded that the purpose of signing off profiles at this stage would be to have them adequately tested in the EI sites and to continue dialogue with the DoH on further profiles. Amicus members will then have the opportunity to vote to support Agenda for Change or not following a thorough assessment of how profiles were matched on EI sites. Until and unless this work is done it will be impossible to see the real effects of AfC.

Amicus is committed to negotiating nationally agreed profiles to ensure that local evaluations are kept to a minimum. Local evaluation could lead to local variations as occurred in the previous regradings.

Colenzo Jarret Thorpe is working with SLT Assistants to progress Job Profiles for that particular group.

The National Advisory Committee supports the joint working with the RCSLT and Amicus to create a robust range of profiles which provides a satisfactory pay and career structure for SLTs.

This information and up to the minute reports on Agenda for Change are available on the Amicus Health website www.amicushealth.org

Kath Frazer
Chairperson, Speech and Language Therapy NAC

Fiona Farmer
Amicus Lead Officer Speech and Language Therapists,

September 2003