Two new Council members were introduced at the meeting -
Group Secretaries Meeting The Group Secretaries Meeting had been cancelled due to the low attendance. Instead, Council used the time to debate the responses to both the RPSGB Fitness to Practise Consultation and the Foster Report on the Regulation of Non-medical Healthcare Professions. The final responses will be available on the website as soon as they are ready.
Pay Review Body Evidence was being collated for this years PRB submission and there was some discussion on what should be in the claim.
Redundancy There was also discussion on the new Redundancy document produced by the Department of Health. It was noted that it would now be very expensive to make staff redundant and it was possible that some organisations may try to dismiss staff instead.
Pre-registration Graduates There was debate about the necessity of pre-regs to have a KSF outline when they are already subject to a professional training framework. Some organisations have decided that no-one covered by Annex U should need a KSF outline.
Age Discrimination Legislation It was confirmed that it will not be acceptable to include a requirement for x years experience in person specifications or job descriptions from 1st October 2006. Instead, there will need to be specific reference to the knowledge skills and attitudes required. It was agreed that GHP should provide members with some guidance on this. It was noted that national consultant training programmes meant that it could still appear in medical staff specifications.
Agenda for Change It was agreed that representations should be made to the Staff Council that consistency checking in England was a joke. It was being used in many Trusts to reduce bandings after matching. It was pointed out that if members have an assimilation letter stating a higher banding, HR cannot lower it without going to an Employment Tribunal.
Section General Secretary It was noted that Barry Jones has resigned from Amicus since the last Council meeting. Clarification on his replacement or any new working arrangements was being sought.
GHP Annual Report Office Bearers were reminded that reports for the Annual Report were due by December 31st. The Professional Secretary is to clarify the savings that could be made by publishing the Report on the website rather than as a paper document.
Council Report An electronic bulletin on the Council meeting was to be sent to all members who had registered their email addresses with Jean Smith after the last newsletter. It will also be sent to Group Secretaries and Regional Members for circulation.
Dormant Groups Attempts are to be made to move funds held by dormant Groups into the central GHP account. If the Group was to be revived at a later date, the funds could be returned or a pump-priming loan/grant could be made. The driver behind this action was that these accounts are exactly the type of account that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is intending to sequester to help fund the 2012 London Olympics.
Colin Rodden 13.9.06