Agenda for change

Agenda for Change is the new national NHS pay system and will introduce new pay bands and harmonise terms and conditions for NHS workers. It replaces the previous Whitley Council system and is one of the key reform elements of the Pay Modernisation Agenda, focused on the need to deliver more effective patient-centred care, better value for money, and redesign of services.

However, NHS Boards are currently operating a phased approach to assimilation of staff to Agenda for Change and full assimilation has not yet been achieved.   As at September 2007 the percentage of substantive staff in post assimilated onto agenda for change (and paid on agenda for change pay bands) as recorded through SWISS is 86%.  ISD have been working with colleagues in NHS Boards, workforce regional planning, the Scottish Executive Health Department and SWISS project board to ensure that figures published for 30 September 2007 provide the fullest detail possible.

Figures are presented using agenda for change groupings with details for employees who have not assimilated appearing as 'not assimilated' within the relevant staff groupings.  The change in both collection and presentation of workforce data has inevitably meant that the amount of historical trend analysis of the data is limited.  However trend analysis is still available for some of the high level staff groupings.  Trend data for the medical and dental workforce (excluding medical and dental support) will continue.

SWISS

Workforce information is now captured through the Scottish Workforce Information Standard System (SWISS) - Workforce Information Repository. SWISS is the data collection and analysis system that is now being used by the whole of NHS Scotland, for local, regional and national reporting. The aim of SWISS project is to develop a workforce information system to support the needs of NHS Scotland, linking Human Resources, Payroll and other systems (including finance).