The GMB, the Union of choice for Ambulance Service Staff, was the only trade union to reject the NHS Pay Award. We are now 18 months into the pay award and we want to hear from you regarding your experiences since its implementation.

The key objectives of the pay award were:

• Increase recruitment and retention of staff.
• Put appraisals and personal development at the heart of pay progression so staff can develop skills and competencies and be rewarded for it and to enhance relationships between line managers and staff.
• Provide the opportunities and support for Band 1 staff to transfer to Band 2.
• Reduce the variation in the approach to payment schemes for unsocial hours. 
• Support the growing use of Apprentices and the development of apprenticeship routes to healthcare careers.
• Consistency of Bank and Agency working.
• Improve the health and wellbeing of staff and improve levels of attendance.
• Introduce local mechanisms to guarantee access to annual leave and time off in lieu which are already set out in the Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions Handbook.
• Give consistent access to Child Bereavement Leave and Enhanced Shared Parental Leave.
• Develop a national framework for the buying and selling of annual leave.

Update on implementation of the pay award:

• The pay progression system has been agreed and came into effect on 1^st April 2019 for new starters and those promoted into new roles on or after 1^st April 2019. For all staff in post prior to 1^st April 2019, current organisational pay progression procedures apply until 31^st March 2021, after which time they too will be subject to the new provisions.
• The arrangements for transferring staff from Band 1 to Band 2 have been agreed as well as supporting staff who wish to remain in Band 1.
• A new provision in the Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions Handbook to open up Section 2 (maintaining round the clock services) Unsocial Hours Payments to all Ambulance Staff. This applies to all new entrants to the ambulance service in England from 1^st September 2018 and those changing roles. Existing staff may choose to move voluntarily to Section 2.
• Section 14 (Sickness Absence) Paragraph 4 of the Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions Handbook has been adjusted to convert eligibility for the payment of unsocial hours during sick leave to a cash value of £18,160. New entrants appointed from 1^st July 2018 will not have access to the payment of unsocial hours during sick leave.
• We have been unable to reach agreement on Apprenticeship Pay.
• Work is due to start shortly on Bank and Agency working.
• Work is due to start shortly on the access to annual leave and time off in lieu.
• New Child Bereavement Leave and Enhanced Shared Parental Leave entitlements have been included in the Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions Handbook.
• We have been unable to reach agreement on a national framework for the buying and selling of annual leave.

(Some of the above may vary in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).

As a GMB member working in the Ambulance Service, we want to hear what your experiences of the pay award to date have been.  Please take a few minutes to complete the survey below and have your voice heard. Some evidence from this survey will be used in the next GMB submission to the NHS Pay Review Body.