16 February 2012
Today (16 February 2012) Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has launched a voluntary severance scheme, known nationally as a Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS).
As part of the Trust’s plans to deliver the savings required in the 2012/13 financial year and beyond, it needs to identify ways to reduce expenditure, including the area of pay costs.
Each application from staff members will be considered relating to its impact on patient care, the Trust’s overall financial targets and the requirement to implement service improvement and efficiencies.
MARS is viewed as a voluntary resignation on the part of the individual in return for a severance payment. This is not a voluntary redundancy scheme.It is entirely voluntary from the employee’s perspective, and staffside representatives at the Trust have agreed to the scheme.
Arrangements mean severance payments will vary from three months’ pay for those staff with between one and six years’ continuous service, up to 12 months’ pay for those staff with more than 24 years’ continuous service.
All Trust employees are able to consider if they wish to make an application, which must be signed off by their divisional director/executive director before being submitted to the director of workforce management by Friday 9 March 2012. Employees will be informed of the outcome of their application w/c 9 April 2012.
Karen Martin, director of workforce management, said: “It is no secret that, like the vast majority of the NHS, we will continue to face financial challenges over the coming years. Like many other NHS trusts before us, we are launching a Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme.
“The overriding consideration with applications is the requirement to sustain quality patient care and ensure we can continue to meet service need.
“We understand that this decision is an extremely personal one and one that will require a great deal of consideration. Staff are being encouraged to speak with their manager if they are considering applying for the scheme.”
