11.09.15
Doctors agree to restart contract negotiations after year of disagreements
Consultants in England have agreed to restart contract negotiations after being satisfied with the government’s commitment to “better contractual safeguards”.
The BMA had walked away from negotiations about doctors’ contracts in October last year after “serious concerns” that government demands would jeopardise patient and doctor welfare.
However, BMA consultants have now agreed to re-enter talks after a renewed safeguarding commitment and an agreement to collect the data that will underpin planning.
Paul Flynn, BMA consultants committee chair, said: “The BMA is committed to reaching agreement on a contract that delivers high-quality, safe patient care across the week.
“There is still much to discuss, but we want to deliver a contract that is good for patients, fair for doctors and good for the NHS.”
He added that in spite of detailed talks being resumed with NHS Employers, it was “essential” that the government provided answers for “fundamental questions” in relation to seven-day services.
Flynn said: “The real obstacle to delivering more seven-day services is not the consultant contract but the lack of staff, investment and resources needed to deliver extra care at a time of enormous strain on existing services.
“That is why it is important that the government works with us constructively in the coming months and provides more detail on how it plans to staff and fund more weekend care.”
According to him, nine out of 10 consultants already work evenings and weekends and only 1% of consultants have opted out of working outside agreed hours.
Talks will carry on in the coming months to reach a contract agreement that “delivers for patients and the consultants who care for them, that protects safe working patterns and that values the vital contribution consultants make to the NHS”.
Online discussions, surveys and events have informed negotiators so far and Flynn has pledged to continue to engage with consultants during talks.
However the UK junior doctor committee voted not to resume contract negotiations with NHS Employers in August as it deemed the current offer “unacceptable”.
It asked the government to reverse its position on the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) recommendations, which they claimed would extend routine working hours from 60 per week to 90.
It was also suggested that the contract would remove “vital” safeguards that discourage employers from making junior doctors work dangerously long hours and, in doing so, protect both patient and doctor safety.
Dr Kitty Mohan, BMA junior doctor committee co-chair, said at the time: “Last October, after more than a year of negotiations, talks with the government stalled after it became clear they were prepared to see these safeguards diluted even further regardless of the consequences for patients and doctors.
“It has quickly become clear that the so-called negotiations offered by Jeremy Hunt last month in his ultimatum to junior doctors offering nothing to address those concerns.”