Change to national policy - wholly owned subsidiaries
Following conversations with the SPF and others in which concerns were raised by trade unions about subsidiary models that involve transferring NHS staff into new organisations, Karin Smyth MP, Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care, has written to the SPF to confirm a change to national guidance.
New subsidiaries involving the transfer of NHS staff will now only be approved in a limited number of circumstances, and only where there is clear union support and protection of NHS terms and conditions, including pension access.
In her letter, the minister states the government wants to "work with staff and with unions to agree the proposed changes and the detail of how this will work in practice".
She also states that "proposals involving the transfer of NHS staff currently under review will be paused with immediate effect while we undertake this consultation, unless they are supported by local unions".
For more details, read the minister’s full letter to the SPF and the letter from Glen Burley, NHS England's financial reset and accountability director, to NHS trusts outlining the changes.
