EBME Forums Forums Management Professional Issues Agenda For Change EBME Band 6 techs

How many ebme band 6 technicians are out there perhaps doing specialist work but not necessarily in management roles?
I have been in the job for 10 years now but have been stuck at the top of band 5 since the AFC came in, even though I have been doing specialist work for much of that time.
The work I do includes - servicing and maintaining all anaesthetic machines and ventilators in our theatres, ITU life support, NNU incubators and anything else that’s considered high risk.
We have four technicians (three band 5) (one band 4), and we have a band 6 supervisor and a manager.
It seems that our hospital won’t allow for band 6 techs; unless its supervisor or manager roles, but I see jobs advertised for band 6 specialised technicians in other areas.
Our management are keen for us to take on more specialist work including Path Lab and radiology and whilst the nature of this job is all about continual self development and improvement of skills there is no incentive if our efforts are not recognised and we are not allowed to progress passed a band 5.

There are only 37.5 hours in the (NHS) working week, Tony, regardless of what it is you are doing.

But if you're really dissatisfied, don't forget you can always look for greener pastures elsewhere. As we know, good techs are always in demand. And the Dark Side always beckons.

I'm band 6 and I specialise in haemodialysis. Supervisor is band 7.

Band 5 seems low for a specialist, given the national profiles. (cue private sector flak)

May I ask how your current pay band compares to your pre-AfC grading? i.e. were you effectively downgraded by the change?

At the time I was an MTO3 at just below the star point level and felt that I was down graded because the AFC put me at the top of the band 5 with nowhere to go.
As that was about 5 years ago I have remained static since then.

Hello Tony
Different structure here:
Three Band 5's, Twelve Band 6's, and Five Band 7's.
Your duties would appear commensurate with the requirements for "Specialist" Band 6 requirements. But just to throw a spanner in the works, I am aware of similar duties being undertaken by a Band 4 in a neighbouring Trust.
( A level playing field, it 'aint).

Hello Tony,

i would suggets you send an freedom of information request to other EBME within your local region asking for their departmental structure and payscales and Job descriptions, because where i am from a band 7 is the supervisor, not just where i work, but in the region.
Band 6 supervisor - no one would appply!!!

if you can compare yourself to others it may help the cause.

You cant ask for any info that may idenfty the individual person, but asking for banding and range of salary eg within a £5000 bracket is disclosable.

good luck XX

Tracy




then tell em in redditch

Tony,

it looks like you are a victim of circumstances. If your manager can only get a band 7 then everyone below will be unoficially "marked down". it's part of the Consistency process where individuals have to fit in with the heirachy of the dept. If your AfC came out at band 6 then that would upset your supervisor and so on. I'm not sure how you stand with respect to challenging the decision after so long but as mentioned above there are engineers out there doing the same as you on bands 6&7. A starting point would be to look at your AfC scoring, find someone with a similar job and compare them.

The main problem with the AfC still remains that there are not enough pay bands and the gap between them is too large.

I do not get this point Bill, I mean there are 9 bands (12 if you include 8b,c & d) and they overlap at the top and bottom of each banding.

How many bands do you suggest and is a biggeroverlap required?

I don't get the point about the gap between pay bands being too large either as they over lap.

The real problem with AfC is that although posts internally will be matched the same, similar posts between different trusts will still be on different bands.

Interestingly Tony, your work with anaesthetic machines and radiology would certainly get you a band 6 here, but work in Path Lab would only get you band 5. What in particularly in the Path Lab do they think merits band 6?

As for managerial posts I've never heard of a band 6 managerial post usually it's band 7 minimum.

Just noticed Tracy's comment, your more likely to get better results by just asking on here for MTO3 and Band 5/6 job descriptions than using Freedom of information, it's highly likely that the job descriptions will be classified as personal information and thus exempt from Freedom of information requests.

Also you'll probably have problems trying to justify a different band now your on the band, if you were assimilated to the band it should have been done then. Although I suppose you could always try obtaining evidence and put in a re-banding request.

It always "amuses" me how you NHS techs look at things.

From where I come from, kit is kit, regardless of its type, or where it is used.

And what's "wrong" with lab kit? I've always found it amongst the most sophisticated (not to mention interesting) in the hospital!

As I've already said, work is work, and there are only so many hours in the (NHS) week ... but (to my mind) it's the bloke who shows willing, and puts in (shall we say) a "little extra" who gets the biscuit. Spending your evenings getting a blood gas analyser to "cal" is one scenario which comes to mind (and there are others).

Having said that, however, I am aware (mainly from the many posts I have read on here over the years) of the unfairness, injustices, discrepancies, or at least "difficulties" that many working in the various NHS Trusts encounter.

Sadly, deserving the biscuit, and being handed the tin, are two entirely different things. So, as I say, the only way (I suspect) of cutting free from all that ***** is to work elsewhere.