Staff And Associate Specialist Doctors Tell Government To 'let Us Vote On Our New Contract', UK
Contract proposals were submitted to the Department of Health in November 2006 following 18 months of negotiations between the BMA and National Health Service Employers' Organisation. The contract includes a pay rise backdated to April 2006 - a year overdue this weekend.
The BMA letter, signed by the chairmen of the UK, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Staff and Associate Specialist committees, says "SAS doctors are becoming increasingly discouraged by the lack of news or information and the delay in moving forward to a vote on the contract. SAS doctors are the last group of NHS staff to receive reformed contractual arrangements compatible with the new NHS and the only group of NHS staff not yet to have benefited from revised salary packages and consequent back pay arrangements."
The letter continues: "SAS doctors did not receive an adequate pay rise in 2006/07 because the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body believed they would have a new contract on 1 April 2006. The 2007/08 pay increases come in at below the rate of inflation. Without the new contract, SAS doctors will have yet to receive the salary increases they are long overdue, and for which the £50 million funding attached to the first year of the contract's financial modelling has now been in the NHS system for 12 months.
"This overall situation perpetuates the low morale and despondency of these doctors who nonetheless continue to provide a crucial service commitment, meeting targets, reducing waiting lists and ensuring efficient delivery of good quality patient care.
"We strongly request urgent completion of the government approval process and immediate notification of the implementation date for the contract."
Mr Mohib Khan, Chairman of the BMA's Staff Grade and Associate Specialist Committee says:
"On Sunday 1 April the Government will have been sitting on £50 million to pay for the SAS contract for exactly a year. Surely it is now time to give approval so we can ballot SAS doctors and get them the fruits of our negotiations."
The letter was endorsed today by other senior BMA figures.
Mr James Johnson, Chairman of the BMA says:
"It is totally unacceptable for our SAS colleagues to have waited so long for Government approval of the contract so that we can go out to ballot. I have pressed Ministers on this issue and we seem to be getting nowhere."
Dr Laurence Buckman, Deputy Chairman of the BMA's GP committee says:
"The treatment of the SAS doctors is disgraceful. All other health workers have benefited from new contracts. It is high time SAS doctors had the opportunity to vote on new contract proposals. As usual, this government talks a lot, does little and doctors pay the price."
Dr Jonathan Fielden, Chairman of the BMA's consultants committee says:
"The contribution of SAS doctors is vital to many aspects of the NHS and it is important that they are properly valued and rewarded. Failure to complete the contract negotiation is short sighted and detrimental to the whole service and must be resolved."
www.bma.org.uk
Personal asociat ºi medici specialiºti de guvern de a spune "sã ne voteze pe noul nostru contract", Regatul Unit - Staff And Associate Specialist Doctors Tell Government To 'let Us Vote On Our New Contract', UK - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate