Band 6 paramedic agreement

We have had a number of questions and comments from colleagues about the recent announcement of the band 6 paramedic agreement.  

The full agreement can be read here on the NHS Employers website. 

This agreement was reached at a national level, not at a Trust level, and solely focused on the paramedic role. Whilst EEAST was not directly involved in the negotiations, Trust representatives did attend a range of  national meetings and contributed our views and questions, many similar to those raised by you. Ultimately, the agreement was jointly decided by NHS Employers, the Department of Health, ambulance unions, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, NHS England and NHS Improvement. 

In addition to the band 6 paramedic role, the agreement sees the introduction of a band 5 newly qualified paramedic role, which applies to all paramedics who qualify from 1^st September, 2016; but the detail of this NQP agreement has yet to be finalised nationally. We recognise that we have a range of clinical staff working for us in different roles and we are committed to improving career development opportunities for all, especially now we have a clear clinical career pathway established. 

Like any new agreement, it does raise a number of questions, many of which we can’t answer at the moment. But we are developing our implementation plan and will be starting discussions with Unison in the new year on how we take this forward in EEAST. As part of that we will be developing frequently asked questions and will keep you updated on what it means for you.

Published 23^rd December, 2016