Agenda for Change. Important Announcement from Fiona Farmer for Amicus & Susan Scarth ADMT.
The Government’s Agenda for Change containing proposals for modernising the NHS pay system goes ahead.
For over two years ADMT in partnership with Amicus has been working closely with the Arts Therapies Bodies (Art, Drama, Dance & Movement & Music) with Heads of Arts Therapies across the country and with Arts Therapists working in the early implementing sites.
After a good deal of consultation & in effect an audit of our work the national profiles are now agreed. These profiles are not set in stone, but simply act as clear recommendation & a guideline for what bandings Art Therapists/Psychotherapists and all Arts Therapists should be able to achieve.
During negotiations it became evident that the depth of scope of our practice skills and knowledge clearly exceeded preconceptions regarding arts therapy/psychotherapy practice and learning. We have throughout the long negotiations needed to submit a good deal of evidence to enable these insights to be achieved including the acknowledgement that we are a form of psychotherapy.
Importantly these insights have enabled us to achieve in all the bandings a knowledge and skills level of 7. Thus there is the agreement that our qualification is MA/MSc or equivalent (which should be put on all person specifications) and the acknowledgement that arts therapists/psychotherapists on the whole work independently as soon as qualifying. In addition unlike other AHPs we cannot practice after our first degree/qualification. Further more there is no need to be concerned if you did not qualify at MA/MSc level. Please note that all Arts Therapy/Psychotherapy Courses are, or are soon on their way, to MA or MSc.
We had proposed that there was no Band 6 working in the field however our DOH advisor presented evidence in opposition to this and our attempts to persuade them otherwise have not succeeded. We finally agreed to an amended Band 6 profile for entry level arts therapists/psychotherapists only.
- The positive news is that we believe that few Arts Therapists/Psychotherapists should match at this level. The majority should band into 7 and the range of 8’s.
- All the profiles will show particular awareness of the lone worker and those working in small departments.
- The recommended pay bandings (see below) replace the original Band 6, which will be removed from publication as the new Band 6 shows the knowledge and skills at 7 and not 6 as in the initial banding.
The Arts Therapies Profile Family is as follows and the profiles will be available on the web site.
Band 6 Arts Therapist Entry to the Profession 21,630 –29, 302
Band 7 Arts Therapist 26,106-34,417
Band 8a-b Principal Arts Therapist 33,298-39,958… 38,786-47,949 Head of Dept or Specialist Lead.
Band 8c-d Head of Profession. 46,671-57,539 … 55,941-69,260
The Next Stage & Guidelines
We are planning to nationally profile a person we believe could achieve consultant level and this will complete our family of profiles. There are no Consultant Arts Therapists/Psychotherapists in the country as yet.
Guidelines detailing the different factors levels and information on job descriptions drawn up in consultation with Jane Dudley, John Tyler, Fiona Farmer, Terri Coyle, Stephen Sandford & Professional Body Officers are currently being produced. These will point the way to you submitting the correct job description & person specification so you can achieve the correct banding for the work you carry out.
If you know of people not in ADMT or Amicus please ensure they know they will be missing out on very necessary advice and information which if not followed could result in them achieving the wrong pay level and affecting the evidence base if they achieve lower bandings than recommended. They will also need our support if they need to appeal against a banding.
The important advice from Amicus and ADMT is:
- No one other than early implementing sites should be being matched.
- Do get your job descriptions updated following all the guidelines available via ADMT & Amicus, but do not agree to a banding.
- There is another ballot coming up soon to make the decision whether AFC should go to national roll out.
Jane Dudley will, in consultation with Fiona, continue to provide email support and guidance. Fiona will continue to visit regional groups and colleges. The achievement of better levels of pay will likely have an influence on recruitment to the NHS and intakes to training courses. Furthermore the pay achieved will influence what can be expected in the other sectors where we work.
Thank You & the Work is Just Beginning
Thank you firstly to those who undertook the huge task of completing JAQs (Job Evaluation Questionnaires) on which the profiles are based. The final profiles were, prior to the final agreement, subject to very close scrutiny and revision by all those involved in the original consultation. This included the supplying of further evidence and subsequently the achievement of a higher banding for the Principal Art Therapist/Psychotherapist. (Dept Head/Clinical Specialist)
We owe great thanks to Colin Adkins Research Officer for Amicus for all his very straight talking, support, clear guidance and great knowledge of all the intricacies of AFC. We also owe great thanks to Amicus Reps John Tyler (Art Psychotherapy) and Terri Coyle (Music) for a huge amount of work, (often late into the night), support & insight.
The work does not stop here and the EI site Arts Therapists/Psychotherapists will continue to provide vital information as they assimilate into the new pay bandings and the evidence they produce will be vital when AFC goes national. The influence they will have on the national picture is great and the amount of work and energy put in has been and will continue to be enormous.
The AFC working groups are as follows and included in the guidelines will be contact numbers.
SW & St George’s NHS Mental Health Trust.
Alison Barnes (Art Therapy) Sarah Holden (Dance & Movement Therapy), John Tyler (Amicus Rep/Art Psychotherapy) Stephen Sandford (Music Therapy) Terri Coyle (Amicus Rep/Music Therapy). There are over thirty arts therapists in the department.
Herefordshire Primary Care Trust
Phil Turner (Art Therapy)
West Kent & Social Care Trust
Sarah Armitage (Art Therapy )
City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust.
Kristin Ricci (Art Therapy )
Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust.
Vicky Morrison (Art Therapy) with over thirty Arts Therapies Staff
We would also like to thank those Heads of Arts Therapies/Psychotherapies Departments across the country who worked very hard with us at the beginning to draw up sample profiles. Jacky Mahony, Laura Richardson, Neil Springham, Mark Shakespeare, & John Tyler. Also great thanks to ADMT Council and our Chair Susan Scarth and the other Chairs with whom we continue to work very closely with. Carole Pembrooke Chair for BAAT, and Judith Nockholds Chair for Music. Clare Heyland Acting Chair and now Ruth Baker a member of council for Drama. And of course there are thanks to the many many ‘we grabbed a word with’ including Professor Diane Waller who was always available. Finally we want to thank Gail Cartmail Amicus Head of Health who stood her ground against the DOH when our DOH advisor began in recent weeks to indicate that our knowledge and skills should be 6 and not 7.
In Partnership.
We have after twenty odd years when we were put on Whitley pay scales alongside the other AHPs, at last achieved our own family of pay scales. We believe these pay bandings offer the pay we deserve and have deserved for many years. The greatest achievement was when the profiling panel and in time the Shadow Executive recognised and agreed that our knowledge and skills factor was 7. Such recognition is a huge achievement. Without the Professional Bodies & Amicus working in partnership with the DOH and alongside the early implementing arts therapists this would not have been achieved.
Jane Dudley Vice Chair BAAT/AFC & Amicus Lead & Fiona Farmer Regional Officer/BAAT Susan Scarth Chair ADMT & Arts Therapies Lead.
If you wish to contact us please do so.
Fiona Farmer
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