Medical & Dental Recruitment – Banding, ESR Setup and Common Issues
Recruitment to Medical and Dental (M&D) roles within the BSA can be complex due to:
- Infrequent recruitment activity for these grades
- Differences between national pay frameworks, Trac, and ESR configurations
- Locally maintained ESR pay structures
- Outdated or unclear contractual wording
These factors often lead to delays, confusion, and frustration for hiring managers.
This article provides guidance to help navigate common issues and ensure consistency when recruiting to M&D roles.
Key Challenges
- Infrequent Recruitment Activity
Because M&D recruitment campaigns are rare within BSA:
- Teams may be unfamiliar with the process
- Knowledge is not regularly refreshed
- Errors are more likely when roles arise
- Contractual Inconsistencies
- Current contracts are unclear
- Some contracts incorrectly reference Agenda for Change (AfC) pay bandings
- This creates confusion as M&D roles are governed by separate national pay arrangements
The national framework is set out in the NHS Medical & Dental pay circulars, which define salary scales and uplift arrangements.
- ESR Pay Structure Differences
Unlike standard AfC roles, M&D roles in ESR are managed using locally configured pay grades, rather than mirroring all national grades directly.
Why this approach is used
- Very small number of M&D staff within BSA
- Maintaining full national grade structures in ESR would require:
- Hundreds of pay grades and spine points
- Ongoing updates each year following pay circular changes
Instead:
A simplified local pay grade structure is used.
Individual salaries are manually aligned to national pay circular values.
The MC01 Associate Specialist pre 2008 grade is closed to new entrants – new starters must be set up under MC03 under the correct pay step point.
Example:
- Trac: MC01 Grade 7 – £99,847
- ESR equivalent: MC03 Local
- Spinal Point: 10
- Step Point: 1
- Salary: £99,847
This reflects the national pay value, even though the grade code differs.