Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that NHS bank shifts are paid at the same rate as contracted overtime.

National Health Service bank contracts are local contracts, the terms of which the employer has discretion over. The expectation is that the terms offered via a bank contract are agreed in partnership between employers and trade unions via local negotiating committees.

Overtime payments for substantive staff on national contracts in England can only be paid to individuals once they have worked more than 37.5 hours per week, for Agenda for Change staff, or 40 hours per week for medical staff.

Where an additional agreement exists between staff and their employing organisation on the payment of any additional hours, including hours worked in excess of 37.5 or 40 hours per week, for example via a bank contract, then this is considered a local matter.