{"id":66192,"date":"2016-01-08T09:31:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-08T09:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=b20177f204f93bb351b7ec29e4af4dbe"},"modified":"2016-09-06T07:42:36","modified_gmt":"2016-09-06T07:42:36","slug":"news-story-junior-doctor-contract-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=66192","title":{"rendered":"News story: Junior doctor contract negotiations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Updated:<\/em> Added link to Jeremy Hunt&#8217;s statement to Parliament.<\/p>\n<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<h2 id=\"latest-updates\">Latest updates<\/h2>\n<p>Jeremy Hunt has made a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/speeches\/update-on-the-junior-doctors-contract\">statement to Parliament<\/a> on the proposed industrial action.<\/p>\n<p>The <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> has suspended the strike planned for 12-16 September.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"previous-updates\">Previous updates<\/h2>\n<p>On 31 August the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> announced further industrial action of a full withdrawal of labour, including emergency cover, for 5 days, between 8am to 5pm from Monday 12 to Friday 16 September, with further dates to be confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>A Department of Health spokesperson said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>As doctors\u2019 representatives, the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> should be putting patients first not playing politics in a way that will be immensely damaging for vulnerable patients. What\u2019s more, the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> must be the first union in history to call for strike action against a deal they themselves negotiated and said was a good one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">While there are many pressures on the frontline, funding is at record levels, with the highest number of doctors employed in the history of the NHS. Co-operation not confrontation is the way forward to make sure patients get the best treatment and the NHS is there for people whenever they need it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>On 6 July the Health Secretary outlined the phased introduction of the new junior doctors\u2019 contract from October 2016 in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/speeches\/jeremy-hunt-updates-parliament-on-junior-doctors-contract\">update to Parliament<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On 5 July the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> announced that junior doctors and medical students in England had voted to reject the new contract 58% to 42% on a 68% turnout.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy Hunt said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It is extrememly disappointing that junior doctors have voted against this contract, which was agreed with and endorsed by the leader of the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> Junior Doctors\u2019 Committee and supported by senior NHS leaders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">The <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr>\u2019s figures show that only 40% of those eligible actually voted against this contract, and a third of <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> members didn\u2019t vote at all. We will now consider the outcome.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>On 27 May, NHS Employers published the <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/your-workforce\/need-to-know\/junior-doctors-contract\">terms and conditions of the contract agreement<\/a>, as reached by the government, NHS Employers and the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr>. This has been agreed by the government, NHS Employers and the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr>, subject to securing the support of <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> junior doctor members in a referendum.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Health have also published an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/junior-doctors-contract-equality-analysis-and-family-test\">equalities statement<\/a>, which considers the new proposals and their impact on junior doctors.<\/p>\n<p>On 18 May, <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.acas.org.uk\/index.aspx?articleid=5737\">ACAS issued a statement<\/a> setting out the terms of an agreement presented to the government and NHS Employers, and to the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr>. This has now been agreed by all parties as resolving the current dispute, subject to securing the support of <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> junior doctor members in a referendum.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy Hunt <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/health-secretary-writes-to-chair-of-the-academy-of-the-royal-colleges\">wrote to Professor Dame Sue Bailey,<\/a> Chair of the Academy of Royal Colleges on 5 May 2016 in response to the Academy\u2019s call for a pause in the introduction of the new contract. He agreed to pause for 5 days from Monday 9 May should the Junior Doctors Committee agree to return to talks.<\/p>\n<p>On 25 April, Jeremy Hunt gave a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/speeches\/nhs-7-day-services-and-the-junior-doctors-strike\">statement to Parliament<\/a> on NHS 7 day services and the impact of industrial action by junior doctors. He also wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/health-secretary-jeremy-hunt-writes-to-dr-mark-porter\">a second letter to Mark Porter<\/a> and reiterated that his offer to meet to find a way forward was still open.<\/p>\n<p>On 24 April, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/health-secretary-jeremy-hunt-writes-to-dr-mark-porter\">Jeremy Hunt wrote to Mark Porter, Chair of the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr><\/a>, to invite him to a meeting on Monday 25 April and to appeal to him to avert the strike planned for later that week, when junior doctors will withdraw potentially life-saving care for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>On 19 April the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/health-secretary-jeremy-hunt-writes-to-jdc-chair-johann-malawana\">Health Secretary wrote a response<\/a> to the <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bma.org.uk\/working-for-change\/junior-and-consultant-contract-home\">letter<\/a> from the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr>\u2019s Chair of Junior Doctors\u2019 Committee, Dr Johann Malawana, about the forthcoming industrial action on 26 and 27 April.<\/p>\n<p>On 31 March, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/junior-doctors-contract-equality-analysis-and-family-test\">equality analysis<\/a> of the new junior doctors\u2019 contract was published. The new terms and conditions were also published by <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/juniordoctors\">NHS Employers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On 23 March the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> announced its intention to escalate industrial action to a full withdrawal of labour, including emergency cover, for 48 hours on 26 to 27 April.<\/p>\n<p>A Department of Health spokesperson said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>This escalation of industrial action by the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> is both desperate and irresponsible \u2013 and will inevitably put patients in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">If the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> had agreed to negotiate on Saturday pay, as they promised to do through ACAS in November, we\u2019d have a negotiated agreement by now \u2013 instead, we had no choice but to proceed with proposals recommended and supported by NHS leaders.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>On 8 March the Government Legal Department set out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/health-secretarys-response-to-proposed-claim-for-judicial-review-by-bma\">Health Secretary\u2019s response to the proposed claim for judicial review<\/a> by the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> regarding the introduction of the new contract.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Mike Durkin, NHS National Director for Patient Safety, <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/your-workforce\/need-to-know\/junior-doctors-contract\/contract-negotiations-timeline-of-activity\">wrote an open letter to junior doctors on 4 March<\/a> in which he described the contract changes as \u2018good for doctors and patients\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>On 23 February the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> announced 3 further dates of industrial action in March and April.<\/p>\n<p>More information about the new contract is on the <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/your-workforce\/need-to-know\/junior-doctors-contract\">NHS Employers website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Health Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/speeches\/jeremy-hunt-updates-parliament-on-the-junior-doctors-contract\">gave a statement to Parliament on the introduction of the new junior doctors\u2019 contract<\/a> on 11 February.<\/p>\n<p>An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/independent-review-of-junior-doctors-morale-training-and-support\">independent review<\/a> into junior doctors\u2019 experience of their training and support while working for the NHS and looking at the long-standing issue of low morale was also announced.<\/p>\n<p>On 10 February <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/your-workforce\/need-to-know\/junior-doctors-contract\/contract-negotiations-timeline-of-activity\">Sir David Dalton wrote to Jeremy Hunt<\/a> to update him on the negotiations and to advise that government should do whatever it deems necessary to end uncertainty for the NHS.<\/p>\n<p>On 3 February <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/your-workforce\/need-to-know\/junior-doctors-contract\/contract-negotiations-timeline-of-activity\">Sir David Dalton wrote to all doctors in training<\/a>, updating on the progress with negotiations with the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> Junior Doctors Committee.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/your-workforce\/need-to-know\/junior-doctors-contract\/contract-negotiations-timeline-of-activity\">Sir David Dalton wrote to the Secretary of State<\/a> on 1 February setting out where the talks had got to by 29 January when they adjourned.<\/p>\n<p>On 1 February the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> announced its intention to strike on 10 February as planned but modified the level of service it asked junior doctors to withdraw. Rather than an all out strike, emergency services were still provided and the strike lasted for 24 hours from 8am.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy Hunt <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/jeremy-hunt-writes-to-mark-porter\">wrote to the Chair of the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> Council, Mark Porter,<\/a> in response to the latest decision to strike.<\/p>\n<p>The <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> announced its intention to suspend the previously announced 48-hour strike as talks continue.<\/p>\n<p>A DH spokesperson said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"last-child\">The strike that took place last week  was unnecessary while talks are ongoing, so it\u2019s extremely welcome news that the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> has suspended next week\u2019s action, though as it stands emergency care will still be withdrawn in February. In the end, the government and junior doctors want to do the same thing by improving patient care at weekends \u2013 and we look forward to further constructive discussions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>ACAS, the conciliation service, announced that all parties had agreed to recommence talks on Thursday 14 January to try and reach a negotiated settlement.<\/p>\n<p>NHS England has published a <a rel=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.england.nhs.uk\/20A16\/01\/12\/junior-doctors\/\">statement on the action taken on 12 January.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>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 <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n<p>Sir David <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/your-workforce\/need-to-know\/junior-doctors-contract\/contract-negotiations-timeline-of-activity\">wrote to chief executives, human resource and medical directors in the NHS on 5 January to explain his new role in the negotiations.<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"letter-to-all-junior-doctors\">Letter to all junior doctors<\/h3>\n<p>On 7 January, <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/~\/media\/Employers\/Publications\/Junior%20doctors%20letter%2007%2001%2016%20final.pdf\">3 senior NHS leaders wrote to every junior doctor at the request of Sir David Dalton<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n<p>Read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/summary-information-from-letter-to-all-junior-doctors\/summary-detail-on-safety-training-and-pay\">summaries of the detail on safety, training and pay taken from the full letter.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The conciliation service, ACAS, facilitated talks on Friday 8 January in which it was agreed that talks would continue in the week beginning 11 January.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"announcement-of-strike-action\">Announcement of strike action<\/h3>\n<p>Following weeks of talks, <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/~\/media\/Employers\/Documents\/Need%20to%20know\/Letter%20from%20Danny%20Mortimer%20to%20SofS%20040116-Final.pdf\">NHS Employers\u2019 Chief Executive Danny Mortimer wrote to Jeremy Hunt<\/a> on 4 January 2016 outlining the position the contract negotiations had reached as the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> announced its intention to take industrial action.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr>\u2019s announcement the Health Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/secretary-of-state-for-health-writes-to-chair-of-the-bma\">wrote to Chair of the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> Mark Porter expressing his disappointment at the decision.<\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"image embedded\">\n<div class=\"img\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Jeremy Hunt quote about strike\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/image_data\/file\/48419\/optimised.jpg\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"background\">Background<\/h2>\n<p>The government wants to modernise the junior doctor contract to make it fairer for doctors and safer for patients.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019 and Dentists\u2019 Review Body (DDRB), was invited to review the contract and to make recommendations, which were published in July 2015. The <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> declined to re-enter negotiations at that point.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"watch-a-video-of-the-secretary-of-states-reaction-to-the-bmas-previous-call-for-strike-action\">Watch a video of the Secretary of State\u2019s reaction to the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr>\u2019s previous call for strike action<\/h3>\n<p><a rel=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/LpsyEWkRqrk\">The Secretary of State\u2019s reaction<\/a> to news that the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> had called for strike action<\/p>\n<p>The <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/your-workforce\/need-to-know\/junior-doctors-contract\">new contract offer<\/a>, which takes account of the DDRB recommendations, was published in November 2015 by NHS Employers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"call-to-action\">\n<p>NHS Employers is the organisation that represents NHS workforce employers and has <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/juniordoctors\">published full details of the contract offer and resources for junior doctors<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Health Secretary made a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/speeches\/junior-doctors-contract\">written statement to Parliament<\/a> on 4 November on the proposed contract and invited the <abbr title=\"British Medical Association\">BMA<\/abbr> to return to the negotiations without preconditions.<\/p>\n<p>The Secretary of State gave a speech to Parliament on 30 November 2015, outlining that <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsemployers.org\/news\/2015\/11\/junior-doctor-industrial-action-suspended\">agreement had been reached to continue negotiations<\/a> and avert the previously planned strike action.<\/p>\n<p>ACAS <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.acas.org.uk\/index.aspx?articleid=5557\">published a memorandum of understanding<\/a> which set out the terms under which the negotiations would proceed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"call-to-action\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/junior-doctors-contract\">Read news, speeches and letters relevant to the negotiations<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This page will be regularly updated with the latest information on the junior doctor contract negotiations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66192"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66192"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73830,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66192\/revisions\/73830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}