04 June 2004
Talks on a contract for 12,500 senior hospital doctors are due to begin soon, the British Medical Association said this week, as the doctors accused the government of dragging its heels over the deal.
In recent months, contracts have been agreed with junior doctors, GPs and hospital consultants but there have been no proposals covering their colleagues in the staff and associate specialist (SAS) grades.
SAS doctors are no longer in training but are unable to or have chosen not to gain consultant status. The SAS grades have a high proportion of female and ethnic minority doctors and the Department of Health has proposed reforms to ensure greater career flexibility.
Despite this, the BMA's annual meeting for SAS doctors on June 1 denounced the government for its 'failure to commence negotiations'.
They urged negotiators to ensure the new contract recognised the unsocial hours they were working, as a result of the implementation of the European Working Time Directive for junior doctors. They also asked for sanctions against trusts that unfairly increased their workload.
SAS grades leader Mohib Khan said preliminary talks had begun with the NHS Confederation.
'We welcome the commitment of NHS employers to securing improvements in the pay, career progress and professional recognition of doctors and dentists in the staff and associate specialist grades. It was agreed that due to the complexity of the issues more formal discussions will begin in the late summer,' he added.
Representatives recommended that any negotiation of terms and conditions should include radically improved recognition for on call and out-of-hours work, and called on the government to implement sanctions against trusts that unfairly use the directive to increase their workload.
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