Junior Doctor Contract Research Articles

Consultant trainers could face increased workload under junior contract

Consultants who supervise trainees could see an increase in their workload under the proposed new contract for junior doctors in England, doctors have warned. Under the proposed new terms and conditions for junior doctors, educational supervisors, who oversee the education of trainees, will be required to agree a personalised work schedule with their trainees and regularly discuss their progress.1 In changes to the way that junior doctors’ hours are monitored, educational supervisors will also be required to process exception reports submitted by trainees who have worked too many hours, and discuss what action is required. Nirmal Kumar, director of medical education at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust, said that the …

What’s changed in the proposed junior doctor contract?

Tom Moberly looks at how proposals for a new contract for junior doctors have changed after last week’s announcement of a deal between the government and the BMA

BMA to explain junior doctor contract details through June road shows

Details of the new contract deal will be explained to junior doctors in a series of road shows that the BMA will be holding across England in early June. The full terms and conditions of the new contract will be published on 31 May, alongside an equality impact assessment of the revised agreement. Junior doctors will be balloted on whether to accept the new contract between 17 June and 1 July. The BMA will be seeking to persuade junior doctors to vote to accept the deal agreed with the government …

GPs express support for junior doctors

GPs have expressed their support for junior doctors and have strongly condemned the imposition of a new contract on the junior workforce. GPs attending the BMA’s conference of local medical committees (LMCs) held in London on Thursday 19 May voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion that “condemns the imposition of the new unsafe and unfair contract on junior doctors.” After the announcement that the BMA and the government had reached an agreement on a new contract for junior doctors in England, subject to a ballot of BMA members, the conference motion was amended.1 Rather than stating …

Junior doctor contract talks continue for fifth day

Talks between the BMA and the government on a new contract for junior doctors are continuing for a fifth day. The discussions, being held in a hotel in Lincolnshire, began on Monday 9 May. Talks reconvened after the government agreed to pause the introduction of a new contract for junior doctors in …

Junior doctor contract talks are extended “to improve chance of success”

Junior doctor contract talks are extended “to improve chance of success”

Royal colleges welcome renewed junior contract talks

Medical royal colleges have welcomed the renewal of talks between the BMA and the government on a new contract for junior doctors in England. The BMA announced on Saturday 7 May that it would re-enter talks with the government on a new contract, after the government said that it would pause the introduction of the contract for five days.1 The talks, which are scheduled to take place over …

BMA denies that 90% of junior doctor contract is agreed

The chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee has refuted a government claim that 90% of the junior doctor contract in England had been agreed. In February England’s health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, announced that he would impose a new contract on junior doctors in England.1 On Wednesday 19 April Johann Malawana, chair of the Junior Doctors Committee, wrote to the health secretary and offered to call off an all-out strike planned for next week if the government abandoned its plan to impose the contract in August.2 In a letter in reply, sent on the same day, Hunt said that 90% of the contract had …

Scotland and Wales have not seen increase in trainee applications

Scotland and Wales have not seen a significant increase in the number of junior doctors applying for foundation and specialty training in 2016 compared with previous years. Ahead of the introduction of a new contract for junior doctors in England in August, both countries launched recruitment drives to attract …

Hospital trusts will adapt junior doctor contract if they have to.

England’s health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has reiterated that hospital trusts will be expected to implement the new junior doctor contract for all new trainees from August and move existing junior doctors onto it as they change training posts—or else face losing funding for training posts. But some trusts have told The BMJ that they may be prepared to set their own terms and conditions if faced with unworkable rotas and morale at rock bottom among junior doctors. Responding to an urgent request by Labour’s shadow health secretary, Heidi Alexander, on what Hunt meant by “imposition” of the contract, the health secretary told the House of Commons on 18 April, “It has never been the government’s plan to insist on changes to existing contracts.” He explained, “It will start with those in foundation year 1 from this August and proceed with a phased implementation for other …

London mayor candidate says that he “stands with” junior doctors

Sadiq Khan, Labour’s candidate for London mayor, has said that he “stands with” junior doctors and that he would push the government to resolve the ongoing dispute over the junior doctor contract. He told BMJ Careers that the government’s actions during the current dispute had been “appalling” and led to “unnecessary upheaval” for the health service and patients. “I stand with the junior doctors and lay the blame squarely at the door of …

Junior contract could undermine recruitment, warns former Tory health minister

A former Conservative health minister has expressed concern over the impact a new junior doctor contract could have on recruitment and retention of female trainees. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour on Tuesday 5 April, former Conservative health minister Dan Poulter discussed the new contract for junior doctors in England.1 “Certainly I have concerns over the impact that this will have on the potential recruitment and retention of particularly female trainees,” he said. “We know that 15% of GPs are part time for family reasons, and I think there is …

Royal colleges concerned about junior contract’s impact on women

Medical royal colleges have expressed concerns that a new contract for junior doctors in England could unfairly disadvantage women. On Thursday 31 March, NHS Employers published the new contract.1 At the same time the Department of Health published an equality analysis of the draft contract.2 Following its publication, a number of doctors expressed concerns about the analysis, which said that some aspects of the new contract would be “disadvantageous” to those who worked part time.3 The Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RCOG), the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh …

Junior Doctors in England Strike for the First Time in 40 Years.

The UK government recently stated its intention to impose a new junior doctor contract in England. Related negotiations between the British Medical Association and government representatives started in 2013. These have to-date failed to reassure doctors, who are concerned about risks to their welfare, patient safety, and the future of England's National Health Service. With the impending imposition of the new contract, and lack of progress, junior doctors felt the risks of striking had fallen below those of inaction. Hence, the first strike staged by the English medical workforce for 40 years occurred in January 2016.

Junior doctor contract and equality analysis published

A new contract for junior doctors in England has been published by NHS Employers. The Department of Health has also published an equality analysis of the contract, which found that it was “fair and justified.” Following a breakdown of negotiations with the BMA, health secretary Jeremy Hunt announced in February that the government would impose a new contract on junior doctors from August this year.1 The new contract, published on Thursday 31 March, sets out the terms and conditions for junior doctors.2 NHS Employers, which developed the contract on behalf of the health department, said that implementation of the contract would be phased. It said that most doctors in training would be moved on to the 2016 contract over an 18 month period, starting in August 2016. This would be linked to when their current …

Why are juniors so keen to cling to banding?

The new junior doctor contract is far from perfect, says Alex Holborow. But the system it will replace is unfair, lacks transparency, and is open to abuse

Equality analysis of new junior doctor contract will be published in March

An equality impact assessment of the junior doctors’ contract will be published in March, NHS Employers has said. In response to a letter from the Medical Women’s Federation, Bill McMillan, assistant director at NHS Employers, said that a “full equalities assessment” of the new contract was currently …

Junior contract will be imposed, Jeremy Hunt announces

A new contract will be imposed on junior doctors in England, the health secretary has announced. Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday 11 February, Jeremy Hunt said that David Dalton, the government’s chief negotiator during negotiations, had said that a breakdown of negotiations meant that a negotiated agreement was unlikely to be reached. Hunt said that Dalton had asked him to “end the uncertainty” and proceed in introducing a new contract for junior doctors, which Dalton considered to be safer for patients and fair for junior doctors. “I have therefore today decided to do that,” Hunt said. He said that, under the new contract, the maximum hours in a week that junior doctors could work would reduce from 91 to 72 and the number of nights from seven to four, and that the maximum consecutive days a junior doctor could work would reduce from seven to five. “We will also introduce a new guardian role into every trust, who will have the authority to impose fines for breaches to agreed working hours, based on excess hours worked,” he said. Hunt said that …

Editor’s Choice: Improving morale

Low morale among junior doctors seems to be rising steadily, if slowly, up the political agenda. Last week David Dalton, who acts as lead negotiator for the government over the junior doctor contract, said that the government should “commission a review of the longstanding concerns with recommendations to all parties for action which can improve the …

Review of trainees’ welfare and morale is needed, says contract negotiator

The government should commission a review into the issues affecting the welfare and morale of junior doctors, David Dalton has said. In a letter sent to all doctors in training Dalton, the government’s lead negotiator over the junior doctor contract, said that given the “high level of unhappiness” the government, along with other stakeholders, should “commission a review of the longstanding concerns with recommendations to all parties for action which can improve the welfare and morale of trainees.” The BMA announced on 2 February that junior doctors would go ahead …