District nurses stage protest over ongoing job evaluation delays

District nurses in Scotland have today staged a protest outside the offices of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC) in a dispute over their job grades and pay.

The rally comes as around 130 local district nurses continue to wait for a conclusion to a job evaluation request submitted by district nurses at the health board in 2023.

The nurses involved are currently on band 6 of the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale but believe their skills, expertise and responsibilities justify a higher grade. They also hold a Specialist Practitioner Qualification (SPQ) in district nursing.

Unions, including the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Scotland, GMB Scotland, Unison and Unite launched a formal grievance with NHS GGC in May and have now launched a dispute over the issue.

They believe the health board has failed to follow the nationally agreed job evaluation process, despite a new job description having been agreed between the trade unions and employer.

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And the unions have warned that without a quick resolution, industrial action could be on the cards.

‘Ignored and undervalued’

Barbara Sweeney, senior officer at RCN Scotland, said: ‘NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has let down their district nursing teams and left this vital group of staff feeling ignored, undervalued and demoralised.’

She stressed that it was ‘hugely frustrating’ to have reached the point of a demonstration.

RCN members with the SPQ in district nursing working at band 6 in NHS GGC will be asked their views on taking industrial action in support of the dispute via an indicative ballot on Tuesday 26 August.

‘Our district nurse members are committed to their patients and colleagues, and industrial action is absolutely a last resort, but the health board has left them no alternative but to consider taking such action,’ Ms Sweeney added.

Separately, in a consultation led by Unison that ended earlier this month, 100% of members said they would be in favour of strike action if the job evaluation was not resolved.

Last week, GMB Scotland’s consultative ballot of members also revealed 100% support for industrial action if there is no swift resolution to the job evaluation.

Karen Leonard, GMB organiser in NHS Scotland, said members should be ‘fairly rewarded’ for their ‘skills, qualifications and responsibilities’ that have increased in recent years to meet the demands of an increasingly complex patient population.

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‘This process has dragged on for year after year when consensus on the way forward has been reached on a number of occasions only for the goalposts to be moved,’ she said.

‘After so many false starts and needless delays, the nurses’ patience has been stretched to breaking point.

‘They only want to nurse but are being driven towards industrial action by a needlessly protracted process that has left them demoralised but determined to resolve this issue.’

Last year, Nursing in Practice reported on the case of two district nurses who were employed by NHS Tayside in Scotland, who were continuing to fight for a role regrade and related pay rise that was first proposed in a review by their employer in 2018.

‘We accept the review process has gone on for too long’

A spokesperson for NHS Glasgow and Clyde said: ‘We greatly value the work of our district nurses and fully support the modernisation of roles.

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‘We fully accept that the process of review has gone on for far too long at NHSGGC and we recognise how important it is for us to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.

‘We have set out a potential way forward which would align the new job description, once evaluated, to those staff with the required qualifications and who are undertaking the role. We believe this would show fair recognition for the training and responsibilities undertaken by staff.

‘We are disappointed that we have not yet been able to reach an agreement with trade unions, however we are keen to meet again with our trade union colleagues to find a way forward for our staff and for our services.’