Pay: Modernisation timetable: It is reckoned that it will now be August 2001 before everything is settled and Agenda for Change goes out for consultation. There is to be a meeting of SPRIG on Friday 10th November. The meeting will attempt to decide whether Scotland agrees in principle to having early implementers. It is probable that it will be April 2003 before there is full implementation, with early implementers starting in April 2002. There will be a lot of work for reps involved in evaluating every job within their trusts. The committee had no objections to the principle as it should ensure that the Scottish dimension is included in the assessment; something which would not happen if the service relied on experience in England picking up all the problems.

Partnership: The visits are continuing, with Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles visited recently. The Western Isles visit did not go well, with neither the Chief Executive nor Deputy Chief Executive attending. Both are now being called in to the Scottish Executive, at their own expense, to a meeting with Gerry Marr, Robin Naismith and Michael Fuller. They will be told that improvements will have to be made before the next visit. The Scottish Partnership Forum is basically flexing its muscles and this should send out the correct messages to the service.

Organisational Change: The current policy goes on to the end of March. Management are saying that the policy is a major problem, though, and there is likely to be a full and frank discussion between now and March. A survey is ongoing to identify where the problems are. With major changes on the horizon, absolute pay protection for life and no compulsory redundancies are vital. Obviously, management are concerned with the costs in the future. The original policy apparently excluded senior managers, but the current one applies to everyone.

Education and Training Strategy: The deadline of 31.12.00 for personal development plans and learning plans for every organisation still stands. Few trusts appear to be taking this deadline seriously, though. Everyone should have a half-hour interview with their manager to allow a template to be completed for incorporation into the Trust plan. The Implementation Group will act as an umbrella group for all the different groups involved in training. The £6m funding is pump priming only - the real money is going to have to come out of existing budgets. The question was asked - what happens when 3/4 of Scottish Trusts fail to comply by 31^st December? That decision will need to be taken at the Health Department.

Occupational Health Services: The aim is to be the best in Scotland bar none. The service should be so good that it can sell its services to private companies.

Partnership Courses: There is a need for the Scottish Executive Group and the Full Time Officers to discuss the training requirements for next year. There is a week in December 2001 booked for senior reps, and the union has been awards £50k for partnership training in the NHS.

Scottish Health Plan: The plan has been delayed until the middle of December. As previously stated, they are intending to build upon the work already in place e.g. the English NHS Plan and the work being done by the hundreds of expert groups already working on modernising services. England is currently reckoned to be about 2 years behind Scotland in HR practices. To produce and implement the Plan in Scotland, there are several aspects / groups / people involved -

• Performance assessment criteria for Human Resources (People Governance)
• New contractual models for doctors
• Extended roles for health professionals (Intermediate specialists? / Consultant pharmacists?)
• PIN guidelines on improving the workplace and working practices
• Workforce planning and supply issues
• Pay modernisation

• Medium term growth - it is a 3 year investment for reform.
• The workforce amounts to 70% of NHS costs. How can it be used most effectively and efficiently?
• Structure of education for health professionals. Under- and post-graduate training should stimulate multi-disciplinary working.
• New gateways into the NHS
• Redesign the workforce to match new patterns of service. Professionals should be working to the top end of their skills and developing them - creating new professionals.
• Invest strategically. Targeted bids for money.
• Voluntary Sector - 1500-2000 agencies that account for 1% of NHS funding. They are complementary to the NHS and cost effective. Should there be increased regulation of their work? What is their relationship to workers in the NHS?

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Continuing Professional Development Guideline Development Group
The two most recent meetings of this group coincided with annual leave, so I was unable to attend either. The next meeting takes place on 5th December, and I have been invited to a workshop on the implementation of Learning Together which will give details of all the Project Development Groups and their conclusions so far. This meeting takes place on 11th December. I should be able to attend both.

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Advice
I have given advice on regrading, on-call and a couple of other situations. Several Trusts have plans for extending services over the winter period and advice has been supplied to a number of members on this subject.

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'ghp'
Suggestions for future articles include more on CPD, personal development plans and skill mix issues. Similar information would be useful to have on the GHP website.

Group News
The delegates to this years GDM will be the Chair and the Secretary of the Group, Kay Roberts and Rhona Dykes respectively.

We still have a vacancy for Vice-chairman of the Group. If anyone is interested, please contact a member of the Group Committee.

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Colin Rodden
17 November 2000

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