COMMUNITY nurses handed out flyers in the city centre on Monday night to bring attention to their exclusion from a new pay deal. 

The nurses, who were gathered outside the High Street Gate near the Cathedral Close, are not receiving the lump sum being given to NHS nurses in gratitude and recompense for their work on the frontlines during the covid-19 pandemic.

The demonstration came on the evening that a special service was being held in Salisbury Cathedral to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the NHS.

The nurses are encouraging the public to sign a petition asking for the government to address the situation.

The circumstances which have led to many Wiltshire community nurses not receiving the lump sum payment—known officially as the “Backlog Bonus”—of at least £1,250 per person are a result of the unique way in which Wiltshire Health and Care (WHC) was established in 2015.

The employees of Wiltshire Health and Care, LLP work in conjunction with Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Swindon, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, which are all members of the LLP partnership.

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Wiltshire Health and Care describes itself as a “public benefit entity whose principal activity is the provision of adult community health services across Wiltshire.”

The Journal obtained documents from 2017 and 2018 watermarked “confidential” that were distributed to employees upon the transfer of Wiltshire community nurses to Wiltshire Health and Care, in which it is explained that WHC was founded as a partnership between Great Western Hospital, Bath Royal University Hospital, and Salisbury District Hospital in 2015 so they could bypass regulations that bids for the Adults Community Services Contract must be put forward by a single entity, as the three trusts wished to tender for the contract together.

The documents explain: “Unfortunately current legislation prevents three Foundation Trusts forming an NHS legal entity, and the only legal form available to give each Foundation Trust equal standing was an LLP. This was therefore the vehicle that was used to establish WHC. It is hoped that the government might look at changing legislation on this issue in the future, so that collaborations between NHS bodies can retain overall NHS status.”

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This has left WHC employees in the bizarre legal situation of not being NHS employees, but employees of an LLP company owned by NHS entities. WHC nurses collaborate with staff at the hospitals, discussing the best regiment of care for patients, handle discharges, and even wear uniforms that say NHS, but are, legally speaking, the employees of a non-NHS LLP.

Wiltshire Health and Care was contacted for comment but redirected enquiries to the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (ICB). The ICB, in turn, redirected enquiries to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Lydia Jenkinson, senior media relations officer – secondary care and capital for the DHSC, clarified that non-NHS entities are not eligible for funding for the non-consolidated payments, but declined to comment on the prevalence of NHS-affiliated LLPs before looking further into the matter.