Department of Health
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Junior doctor contract negotiations
This page will be regularly updated with the latest information on the junior doctor contract negotiations.
Latest updates
Sir David Dalton has written to the Secretary of State setting out where the talks had got to by 29 January when they adjourned.
On 1 February the BMA announced its intention to strike on 10 February as planned but has modified the level of service it is asking junior doctors to withdraw. Rather than an all out strike, emergency services will still be provided and the strike will last for 24 hours instead of 48.
Jeremy Hunt wrote to the Chair of the BMA Council, Mark Porter, in response to the latest decision to strike.
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Previous updates
The BMA announced its intention to suspend the previously announced 48-hour strike as talks continue.
A DH spokesperson said:
”The strike that took place last week was unnecessary while talks are ongoing, so it’s extremely welcome news that the BMA has suspended next week’s action, though as it stands emergency care will still be withdrawn in February.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 – and we look forward to further constructive discussions.”
ACAS, the conciliation service, announced that all parties had agreed to recommence talks on Thursday 14 January to try and reach a negotiated settlement.
NHS England has published a statement on the action taken on 12 January.
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.
Read summaries of the detail on safety, training and pay taken from the full letter.
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.
Announcement of strike action
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 as the BMA announced its intention to take industrial action.
In response to the BMA’s announcement the Health Secretary wrote to Chair of the BMA Mark Porter expressing his disappointment at the decision.
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.
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.
Read news, speeches and letters relevant to the negotiations
