Junior Doctors’ Contracts

nhsThis week a new contract was agreed subject to the support of BMA junior doctors in a referendum.

The Government has now reached an agreement with the BMA on a new junior doctors’ contract – an important step forward in the delivery of a 7-day NHS.

The new contract is better for patients, doctors and NHSDavidCameronthe NHS. It will introduce better training, safety and working conditions for junior doctors. It is better for the NHS because it supports hospitals to deliver truly 7-day services and crucially, Saturdays and Sundays will be treated as regular working days. And most importantly, it is better for patients as they know that they will have nhsprofessionalaccess to a great and improving service every day of the week.

The new contract is:

Better for patients – With access to an improved service 7-days a week. These changes are the most significant change to the contract in seventeen years. The changes ensure the NHS is shaped around the needs of patients who can’t choose what day of the week they fall unwell.

Better for junior doctors – Guaranteeing better training, safety and working conditions. Junior doctors working legal hours will receive a basic pay rise of around 10-11%. In addition to new limits on hours worked, consecutive nights and long days will also be introduced. A new family support plan will help balance home and work, offering catch-up programmes for those who take time out of training for family reasons.

Better for the NHS – Linking pay progression to attainment, tackles locum costs and scraps unsafe incentives for long hours. There will be a fundamental shift in the way doctors are paid for weekend work so it is a third less expensive for hospitals to roster doctors over the weekend. By introducing Saturday and Sundays plain time rates and a sliding scale replacing unsocial hour payments high standards of care will be enabled at an affordable rate.

It is deeply regrettable that patients had to endure eight days of industrial action which saw 125,000 operations cancelled. 

The Government commitment to a 7-day NHS which ensures patients can access great care every day of the week.  Backed by our investment of £10 billion real terms increase in the NHS’s annual budget. No other party committed to such a level of funding for the NHS.

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