Welsh Partnership Hub (WP-HUB)
29 March 2026
The home of partnership working within NHS Wales.
Welcome to the Welsh Partnership Hub. The Hub provides a one-stop shop for partnership working within NHS Wales. It’s the home of NHS Terms and Conditions, All Wales W&OD policies and other products and resources that have been develop in partnership under the guidance and direction of the Welsh Partnership Forum.
The Welsh Partnership Hub WP-HUB has been created to provide a central source of information and resources developed and agreed in social partnership. The WP-HUB is intended to support effective and consistent application of pay, terms and conditions, including improvements agreed as part of national negotiations, policies agreed in partnership as well as core terms and conditions.
When specific areas or terms and conditions are agreed across England and Wales, this will be under the auspices of the NHS Staff Council.
In these circumstances the WP-HUB will link to relevant NHS Employers pages.
There is the facility to contact NHS Wales Employers and the opportunity to feedback on the content of the WP-HUB at the bottom of this page.
Policy (including Terms and Conditions of Service) Interpretation - Dispute Referral
There is a joint commitment to fair and consistent application of All Wales Terms and Conditions of Service and Policy. However, it is recognised that there may be times when terms/wording are interpreted differently at local level.
- If a situation arises where there is a disagreement over the interpretation of an agreed policy within an NHS organisation the following process will be observed:
- The parties within an NHS Wales organisation must seek to resolve the issue locally;
- Should the matter remain unresolved, following partnership discussions in the organisation, it must be referred to the LPF outlining why it has not been possible to resolve the matter locally;
- Should the LPF agree that the matter cannot be resolved locally, a joint employer/TU submission should be made by the LPF to NHSWE.Governance@wales.nhs.uk outlining the area requiring clarification/resolution.
- This will then be considered by the joint (employer/TU) chairs of the WPF and a response provided through NHS Wales Employers.
Resources
Pensions guidance
The NHS Pension Scheme offers a number of flexible retirement options with new flexible retirement options being introduced to help employers attract and retain experienced staff.
We are working closely with NHS Employers, DHSC, NHS England and NHS Pensions to work through the new rules and help employers prepare for the change. The guidance will be updated regularly as new information comes to light around the development of new systems and processes to support local implementation of partial retirement from 1 October 2023.
As part of our Welsh Partnership Forum Workplan, we have committed to work in partnership to develop an All Wales Pensions Policy.
This Policy will set out the requirements and expectations on employers across NHS Wales, together with guidance and resources to assist its application.
As these flexibilities are available for those individuals at or above Minimum Pension Age, and in light of changes to regulations and tax requirements, the Employer Pension Contributions - Model Alternative Payments Policy has been updated. This Model policy needs to be adopted at an organisational level.
Up-to-date guidance and resources can be accessed via the following links
Speaking Up Safely Framework
The Speaking Up Safely framework was agreed by the Welsh Partnership Forum and launched by Welsh Government in Autumn 2023.
Having effective “Speaking Up Safely” arrangements in place helps to protect patients, the public and the NHS workforce, as well as helping to improve our population’s experience of healthcare. It is essential to ensure that all individuals have a voice, are listened to, and receive a timely and appropriate response.
The framework will support organisations to create that culture; one where individuals feel safe and able to speak up about anything that gets in the way of delivering safe, high-quality care or which negatively affects their experience. This includes, but is not limited to, matters related to patient safety, safe staffing, the quality of care, bullying and harassment (and cultures which enable this), as well as financial malpractice or fraud. To support this, leaders and managers need to be willing to listen, and to be open to constructive challenge. Speaking up and bringing these issues into the open is a brave and vulnerable thing to do, and therefore should be welcomed and seen as an opportunity to listen, learn and improve.