Agenda for change.

The Knowledge and skills

framework .

Judy Dyos and Rachel Palmer

Objectives • To understand the banding system for all staff

(except Drs) in the NHS

• Movement through the bands and increment points

• The annual appraisal processes

• The Knowledge and Skills framework that guides appraisal assessment

3

Agenda for Change • Set out in 2004 to create a generic approach to

manage pay against skills. All NHS staff use this system except doctors, their professional body refused to be part of the system

• Replaced the Whitely council pay system

• Three core elements :

1. Job evaluation

2. Harmonised terms and conditions

3. The knowledge and skills framework (KSF)

4

Agenda for change pay scales

Agenda for Change Pay Structure

1

765432

8 Pay Band

Gateway

Gateway

IncrementalPay Points

Develo

pm

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t

Develo

pm

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t

2

876543

9

6

NHS KSF - Main Purpose• To provide an NHS-wide framework that can

be used consistently across the service to support:

– personal development in post– career development – service development

What the NHS KSF is Not• It does not seek to describe what people are

like or their attitudes

• It does not describe the exact knowledge and skills that people need to develop

• It does not determine job weight or pay band

6 Core Dimensions

NHS KSF

Equality & Diversity Personal &

People

Development

QualityService

Improvement

Communication

Health, Safety & Security

24 Specific Dimensions (in four groups)

NHSKSF

Health & Well-being HWB 1-10

Estates & Facilities

EF 1-3

Information &

KnowledgeIK 1-3

General

G 1-8

4 levels to each dimension• Level 1

Contribute to own personal development

• Level 2

Develop oneself and provide information to others to help their development

• Level 3

Develop oneself and contribute to the development of others

• Level 4

Develop oneself and others in an area of practice.

• Develop own skills and knowledge and provide information to others to help their development:

– Takes responsibility for own personal development and takes an active part in learning opportunities

– Offers information to others when it will help their development and/or help them to meet work demands

Offering information to others might include:

• During induction

• During ongoing work

• When changes are being made to work practices

Indicators: Examples of Application:

Personal & People Development, Level 2:

The KSF & Personal Development - Lifelong Learning

• Commitment to annual development reviews and development of all individuals

• Everyone to have a personal development plan

• Everyone is expected to learn and develop within their job role

• Enshrined in the AFC Agreement – part of everyone’s terms and conditions

The NHS KSF - Summary

• Identifies the knowledge and skills that people need to apply in their post

• Helps guide development

• Provides a fair and objective framework on which to base review

• Provides the basis of pay progression in the service

What is a full KSF Post Outline?• Identifies the KSF dimensions and levels that apply

to a post in the NHS – a broad outline

• Puts the outline in context through identifying the specific areas/activities to which the dimensions and levels are applied

• Sets out the ‘foundation subset’ as well as the full outline for the post

• Agreed in partnership

Outlines - Dimensions – All core dimensions must be included

– Specific dimensions should reflect the major areas for development within the post

– The number of specific dimensions should be kept to the minimum necessary to cover the post

– KSF Dimensions do not influence pay bands

Catering Assistant

CORE

HWB10 Products to

meet health and

well-being needs

KSF Post Outline

A Healthcare Practitioner

CORE

HWB6 Assessment &

treatment planning

HW

B7

Inte

rven

tions

and

trea

tmen

ts

Ik2

Info

rmat

ion

C

olle

ctio

n &

an

alys

is

G6 People

Management

KSF Post Outline

KSF Post Outline - Nurse Band 5

Purpose of a Foundation Gateway Subset

• To focus development in the first year on enabling the individual meet the essential demands of the post

• To check that the individual is likely to develop to meet the full demands of the post over a number of years

• To inform recruitment and selection processes

The NHS KSF and Development Review• KSF outline developed for each post

• Individual is matched against the KSF outline for their post

• Personal development plans jointly agreed and supported

• Individual supported to learn (in a variety of ways)

• Joint evaluation of learning

Development Review Process

Jointly produce Personal Development Plan

- identify needs& agree goals

Joint review of individual’s work against the NHS

KSF outline for the post

Joint evaluation of applied

learning and development

Individuals undertake supported

learning & development

Development Review Process• The development review should be a focussed

discussion about how the individual is doing against the appropriate outline for their post

• The emphasis should be on development – what has been achieved in the past year and what needs to be achieved in the next year

• Most of the ‘evidence’ provided will be verbal – part of the discussion process, based on the manager and individual’s views of how they are getting on at work

• Each development review will result in a personal development plan (PDP) setting out the individuals development needs and how these will be met

Gateway Reviews• Same process as other reviews

• Build on the information gathered over time i.e. not isolated incidents but assessments which review the information gathered

• Information at gateways can be from others (besides individuals and their managers) e.g. 360o feedback if available, information from colleagues

Foundation and Second Gateways• Foundation gateway review against subset of

full KSF outline for the post

• 2nd gateway review against full KSF post outline

• The Foundation subset contains the elements of the outline that are essential for all postholders within the first year of appointment.

Responsibilities in the Review• There is a responsibility on both the individual

member of staff and their manager to review how the individual is applying their knowledge and skills to meet the demands of the post as described in the KSF outline

• It is important that both managers and staff prepare in advance by thinking through whether there are any likely development needs and how these might be met.

Manager’s Responsibility• Regular informal discussions with individual

staff member throughout the year

• Providing constructive feedback on the individual’s work and related development

• Any issues with the individual’s work must have been discussed prior to the formal review meeting – ‘no surprises’

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Good sources of information

• Unions – RCN and Unison

• NHS Careers

• www.nhsemployers.org

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Questions