Classification: Official

To:

• NHS foundation trust and trust:
  • chief executives
  • chairs
  • ­finance directors

cc:

• Regional directors

Dear colleagues,

Update on an important change in national policy regarding subsidiaries

I want to update you on an important change in national policy regarding subsidiaries.

Over the past year, concerns have been raised about subsidiary models that involve transferring NHS staff into new organisations. Unions, particularly Unison, have been clear that this risks undermining the principle of a single NHS workforce and creates unnecessary anxiety for staff. We have listened carefully to those concerns and the Secretary of State has been clear that we must take action.

We therefore intend to change national guidance to confirm that 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.

This is about shaping the future of the NHS workforce, ensuring fairness, and giving staff and their representatives confidence that their voice matters in decisions of this kind. It is also about providing clarity and consistency for trusts as they navigate challenging financial and operational pressures.

We will shortly consult on these changes. We want to work with you, with staff and with unions to agree the proposed changes and the detail of how this will work in practice. It is also about ensuring we strike the right balance between protecting staff and preserving the freedoms of foundation trusts to innovate in ways that strengthen, rather than fragment, the NHS.

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.

Thank you as ever for your leadership and for working with us to make these changes a success.

Yours sincerely,

Glen Burley, Financial Reset and Accountability Director, NHS England 

Publication reference: PRN02201