Jeremy Hunt tries to reassure junior doctors in contract row

In a letter to Dr Johann Malawana, chair of junior doctors’ committee at the British Medical Association, Mr Hunt said he could provide assurances about the government’s approach to the contract.

Dr Malawana welcomed the letter, but said the BMA was “urgently seeking clarification” on some of the matters Mr Hunt raised. The health secretary said junior doctors pay will not be cut and they will not have to work longer hours that were initially proposed in new contract which sparked calls for strike action and marches in protest.

“No junior doctor working full-time will be expected to work on average more than 48 hours a week.” – Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt

Under current plans, the contract will reclassify doctors’ normal working week to include Saturdays and up to 10 pm every night of the week accept Sunday. NHS staff argue they will lose out financially as evenings and Saturdays will be paid at the standard rate opposed to the higher rate.

He said he was “saddened” by the uproar the proposed contract has caused to doctors who “were being misled by the calculator on the BMA website into believing their pay will be cut by 30 per cent”.

Now, in an attempt to diffuse the heated row over the unpopular new contract, Mr Hunt said he will not extend trainee doctors’ normal week to include working up to 10pm on Saturdays. In his letter, he offered the association’s junior doctors committee (JDC), which represents 53,000 junior doctors in the NHS in England “absolute guarantee to junior doctors that this contract will not impose longer hours”.

He said: “No junior doctor working full-time will be expected to work on average more than 48 hours a week.”

Mr Hunt writes: “Firstly, this is not a cost-cutting exercise. I can give you a categorical assurance that I am not seeking to save any money from the junior doctors’ paybill.

“Whilst I want to see an end to automatic annual increments [with pay rises instead based on moving through the stages of training and taking on more responsibility], these changes would be cost-neutral, rather than cost-saving.

“Within this, I can give an assurance that nights and Sundays will continue to attract unsocial hours payments. I would be pleased to discuss in negotiations how far plain time working extends on Saturdays. Mr Hunt also said junior doctors will still benefit from four or five pay rises across their training”.

‘Questions still remain’

Responding to Mr Hunt’s letter, Dr Johann Malawana, BMA junior doctor committee chair said: “It is encouraging that the health secretary has finally recognised the vital role that junior doctors’ play as tomorrow’s leaders across the NHS. However, questions still remain and we are urgently seeking clarification on the points raised in the letter.”

Negotiations broke down between the BMA and Mr Hunt last month over the contract dispute. Professor Sir Simon Wessely, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists has urged them to return to the negotiating table.

“The College strongly believes that the highest standards of patient care are delivered by energetic, motivated and well rested doctors with a positive work-life balance. We therefore welcome the guarantee that junior doctors will not work more than 48 hours a week,” he said.