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Junior doctor contract negotiations
This page will be regularly updated with the latest information on the junior doctor contract negotiations.
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Sir David Dalton, Chief Executive of Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust has been appointed by the Health Secretary to lead negotiations on behalf of government and the NHS in new talks with the BMA.
Letter to all junior doctors
On 7 January, 3 senior NHS leaders wrote to every junior doctor at the request of Sir David Dalton regarding the proposed new contract for junior doctors. This included key areas such as pay and safety and non-contractual matters around training, to ensure every junior doctor was in full possession of as much relevant information as possible in advance of industrial action.
The conciliation service, ACAS, will facilitate the talks which began today.
Information about strike action
In response to the BMA’s announcement to take industrial action the Health Secretary wrote to Chair of the BMA Mark Porter expressing his disappointment at the decision.
We are working with NHS England and the rest of the NHS system to ensure plans are in place to minimise the impact to patients during any strike action.
The BMA has announced strike action on the following days:
- 8am Tuesday, 12 January to 8am Wednesday, 13 January – (24 hours) emergency care only will be provided
- 8am Tuesday, 26 January to 8am, Thursday 28 January – (48 hours) emergency care only will be provided
- 8am to 5pm, Wednesday 10 February – full withdrawal of labour
Background
The government wants to modernise the junior doctor contract to make it fairer for doctors and safer for patients.
In 2012 the British Medical Association and NHS Employers began discussions on the new contract. The negotiations broke down in October 2014. An independent review body, the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body (DDRB), was invited to review the contract and to make recommendations, which were published in July 2015. The BMA declined to re-enter negotiations at that point.
Watch a video of the Secretary of State’s reaction to the BMA’s previous call for strike action
The Secretary of State’s reaction to news that the BMA had called for strike action
The new contract offer, which takes account of the DDRB recommendations, was published in November 2015 by NHS Employers.
NHS Employers is the organisation that represents NHS workforce employers and has published full details of the contract offer and resources for junior doctors
The Health Secretary gave an oral statement to Parliament on 4 November on the proposed contract and invited the BMA to return to the negotiations without preconditions.
The Secretary of State gave a speech to Parliament on 30 November 2015, outlining that agreement had been reached to continue negotiations and avert the previously planned strike action.
ACAS published a memorandum of understanding which set out the terms under which the negotiations would proceed.
Following weeks of talks, NHS Employers’ Chief Executive Danny Mortimer wrote to Jeremy Hunt on 4 January 2016 outlining the position the contract negotiations had reached.
