BOSSES at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital have pledged their support for a national pay agreement but will remain in the controversial regional pay consortium to keep their options open.
The RD&E was initially one of 20 trusts in the south west to sign up to a group dubbed a pay cartel by unions that was looking to move away from the nationally agreed pay and conditions settlement called Agenda for Change.
The move attracted controversy from the outset amid fears it would lead to an attack on staff and their pay and conditions of up to 15 per cent in real terms.
Several large-scale protests have been held across the region with staff claiming the move had left morale at an all-time low.
But as a result of a fresh national deal being approved five of the trusts have now formally withdrawn from the group.
In a statement a spokesman for the RD&E said that although it was fully committed to the national agreement it would return to the consortium if national agreements could not generate the necessary savings.
The spokesman said: "The Board of the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust confirmed that it will be implementing in full the recent national changes to Agenda for Change, in conjunction with Staffside, from 31 March 2013.
"The Trust Board is aware that national negotiations are continuing and the intention is to follow national agreements.
"However, it also noted that in the event of national negotiations failing to deliver the level of change to effect savings required, it would consider reinstating the south west consortium approach."
