Thousands still waiting for pay bonus after year-old pledge

In a series of letters, seen by HSJ, they have called for clarity over the funding before the end of the financial year.

The Department of Health and Social Care announced in November that organisations which provided NHS care would be able to apply for central funding for the bonus, which was notionally for extra efforts during the pandemic, but only under strict conditions. Since then, social enterprises have put in applications but have not received any confirmation of funding.

It is understood some have paid out the money to their staff in the expectation of getting funding but others have not been able to afford to do so.

In one letter, Adrian Baillieu, director of finance and resources at Surrey-based First Community Health and Care CIC, told Ms Atkins the department had offered “reassurance” that the commitment to pay would be delivered by the end of this financial year.

“One year on from this inequity being brought to the attention of NHS England and DHSC, funding for these staff has still not materialised,” he wrote.

John McLuckie of West Yorkshire-based provider Locala wrote: “We….now urgently need the clarity on when the decision will be communicated and funding provided, in order to manage our finances and organisations effectively, and to provide assurance to auditors and external partners with regard to our going concern status given the significance of the sum concerned for the size of the organisation.”

The government announced in November that non-NHS organisations providing NHS-funded services – including social enterprises, trusts’ subsidiary companies and private organisations – could apply for the funding, which is worth at least £1,655 per person.

To qualify, staff needed to be employed on terms “dynamically linked” to Agenda for Change pay scales and the organisations had to demonstrate a “negative financial impact from the non-consolidated pay award presenting a risk to the continuity of services”, and to have less than 10 days of liquidity at certain points to cover operating costs.

NHS organisations had been funded automatically for the increase and it was paid to staff at the end of last summer.

Since the government’s announcement, some staff employed by outsourced companies have gone out on strike, calling for the bonus to be paid. This has included staff employed by Mitie who worked at The Dudley Group Foundation Trust in the Midlands.

East Kent Hospitals has paid the bonus to staff working for its subsidiary company 2together Support Solutions, although this has not been funded by the government.

A managing director of another social enterprise delivering NHS-funded services said privately: “Obviously, when the DHSC announcement was made in November we were optimistic. But the criteria for qualifying for the payments have proved to be restrictive…

“This is an issue that shouldn’t be allowed to reoccur – it causes uncertainty for staff members and wastes significant time for a large amount of NHS providers at a time where the focus needs to be on efficiency and service improvement.”

The DHSC was approached for comment.