NHS Delivery - a new national delivery organisation: consultation

What the Change Means for Staff

As a result of the establishment of NHS Delivery, all staff currently employed by NES will transfer into the employment of the ‘Common Services Agency (CSA) which is the employer of NSS staff.

This change will be given effect in line with the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (‘TUPE’) and will be supported by consultation with staff representatives by the respective current employers. This will ensure that existing rights and entitlements are protected, although in practice colleagues are already employed on national terms and conditions, with service recognised across the NHS and many employment policies and processes currently operating on a Once for Scotland basis. NSS also already deliver the payroll service for NES, which further reduces complexity in the transition. Where differences between NES and NSS are identified, the consultation process will agree the future policy which applies going forward and any transition or protection arrangements.

In practice, the bringing together of NES and NSS is expected to involve very little change for the vast majority of staff on 1 April 2026. They will be supported to integrate into NHS Delivery, to embrace the new organisation’s identity and to promote NHS Scotland’s values of care and compassion; dignity and respect; openness, honesty and responsibility; and quality and teamwork. They will also be supported to work to any revised organisational policies and processes, but their day-to-day roles will otherwise feel very similar.

As further work is undertaken post April 2026 to settle on the future design of the organisation, there may be a need to change the way in which staff and teams work. Any such change will be managed through the appropriate organisational change and redeployment policies.

In the meantime, work will be led by both NES and NSS to ensure essential changes to systems are made and that relevant services and policies are aligned where possible, with appropriate partnership engagement.