§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what guidelines are issued by his Department to the health service in Wales with regard to the length of time within which appeals by nursing staff against regrading decisions should be heard; and what proportion of such appeals have taken over 12 months to be heard.
§ Mr. Nicholas BennettAgreed procedures for pursuing staff grievances are set out in section 32 of the general Whitley Council conditions of service which bind 559W employing authorities and employees. There is no time limit within which appeals made to the employing authority should be heard and information on the numbers of nurse regrading appeals which have taken longer than 12 months to be completed is not held centrally. At the all-Wales level the time needed by staff sides and management alike to prepare for subsequent nurse regrading appeals lodged by staff organisations or trade unions, following unsuccessful appeals at the local level, has resulted in the majority of appeals taking longer than 12 months to complete.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will set up an investigation into the appeals system in relation to the regrading of nurses, in dealing effectively and expeditiously with the appeals by school nurses in Gwynedd; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Nicholas BennettStaff grievance procedures are set out in section 32 of the general Whitley Council agreement, which provides for three levels of appeals. When the clinical grading structure was negotiated, the nursing trades unions chose not to pursue the possibility of introducing more streamlined procedures. However, all regrading appeals from nurses in Gwynedd have been completed at the employing authority level. Progress in hearing appeals at other levels is dependent upon the submission of case statements from both staff sides and management and the availability of people to present and hear cases. Measures designed to speed up the mechanics have recently been implemented at the regional, all-Wales level and at national level a range of new proposals is being discussed between both sides of the Nursing and Midwifery Staffs Negotiating Council.