NHS current/ex employees - can you apply for two bands above?

[RockinInAFreeWorld]

Hi all,

In my (non-clinical) NHS role three years so have moved two spine points up the payscale, I recall years ago during restructure you could only apply for one band above or one band below your current band – does anyone know if this is the case generally? My current salary is circa £35k pa in a Band 6 role (incl. London Weighting); a lot of Band 7 London roles start just over £37k so would prefer a bigger salary increase when the time comes to apply for a more senior role. Wouldn’t want to invest time in a Band 8a application to have it instantly turned down due to official procedure.

Thanks in advance,
R

I've known people go from a senior band 5 to a band 7 on a couple of occasions so it can happen!
Good luck

You CAN apply, there is no rule to stop you. However, some recruiting managers would probably assume you haven't the full skills / abilities, and would want you to go for the 7 first. I'm sure you know this already, but you'll probably go in a few points up the 7, if you choose to apply for a 7, as there has to be a pay rise when you go up a band.

Many thanks both. I know a couple of colleagues have negotiated one or a couple of spine points up from the beginning of a Band as they fulfil all the criteria etc; maybe that’s the way to look at it rather than aiming for the Band 8a roles which will most likely go to someone already on a similar salary.

Hi OP. I know several people who've gone 2 bands up in clinical roles. They all demonstrated in their application/ interview that though they weren't employed at the middle band they had X responsibilities that were equivalent etc.. So acting up for a long period, vacant managers post etc.. It seemed as if you can demonstrate you are ready/ capable for the next step up in your experience rather than simple current job banding that gets taken into consideration.