SASC newsletter
Update on the November 2005 SASC (UK) meeting
The UK SASC had its second meeting of the 2005/06 session on 30 November 2005. This newsletter gives details of the main discussions and business of the meeting.
New contract for the SAS Group
The Chairman of the Negotiating Subcommittee and lead negotiator for SASC on the new contract negotiations, Mr Awani Choudhary, gave his report on the progress of the negotiations.
SASC has met several times with NHS Employers and statements have been issued after most formal meetings since 6 May. These are available from the press release section of the BMA contract pages.
Over the negotiation period, the parties have drawn up a list of agreements in principle. These are attached as appendix 1.
Smaller working groups have been meeting regularly to speed up the negotiating process and to examine the detail of the issues.
New name
One working group has been looking at a new name for the SAS group. The general principle has been recognised that a new name must help SAS doctors to achieve appropriate recognition and status for the valuable work that they do. The SASC web forum has had several comments on this issue, all of which have been brought to the working group. An external agency has been commissioned to come up with a new name and they are running several focus groups with employers, SAS doctors and patients. One such group was held after SASC UK.
Terms and conditions
Another sub group is working on terms and conditions of service. They are using the consultant TCS and adapting these to the specific needs of SAS doctors.
Assimilation
A new subgroup has also been charged with examining a fair and transparent process for how doctors and dentists will fit into the new structure.
Entry and progression
It has been agreed that there must be a fair, flexible and transparent system of entry and progression to the grade.
Associate Specialist
This group is examining the issues most pertinent to current Associate Specialists doctors.
Dentists
This group is looking at the particular needs of dentists in the new structure
The Chairman reported that a lot has been agreed but that there are still difficulties and differences to be managed during the negotiations. Both teams are committed to working to achieve the aims of the negotiations and it is hoped that these could still be achieved by April 2006.
Northern Ireland in negotiations
The Staff and Associate Specialist Committee is representing SAS Doctors in all four UK countries.
NHS Employers have been given a mandate by the Department of Health in England, the Scottish Executive and National Assembly for Wales to negotiate on their behalf.
Northern Ireland are currently taking part in the negotiations as an observer but we are pushing for them to take a formal part in the process. We have had no success as yet.
The statement we have issued publicly is as follows:
Following the BMA NI cross craft meeting on 7 November 2005 with Mr S Woodward, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for NI with responsibility for health, Mr Woodward confirmed that the NI DHSSPS were not participating in the SAS contract negotiations. When asked for an explanation, Mr David Bingham, the NI DHSSSPS Director of Human Resources stated that he had been instructed by the Department of Finance and Personnel to take no part in the negotiations.
Our members in Northern Ireland feel that this is a discriminatory act against our group and is not acceptable to our membership, especially as the Department stated that there were no plans to support local NI negotiations in parallel with the rest of the UK. We call on Minister Woodward, now that he is fully briefed to rectify this situation immediately.
Communication with SAS doctors
The Staff and Associate Specialists Committee (SASC) want to make sure that all SAS doctors are kept up to date with the progress of our contract negotiations. The following information is intended to help you make sure you know where to find the information, as well as how to register so that we can ballot you at the appropriate time.
If your contract negotiations are to be successful we need your support. Good communication with SAS doctors is a priority for the Negotiating Committee, and is vital to ensure we are able to contact you at key stages throughout the negotiations.
We will not send many unsolicited emails, but if you want to receive more emails from us, BMA members can sign up for email alerts here.
Even as a BMA member you need to sign up on the website, to register your email address so that we can let you know of any important developments.
Because of the fast pace of negotiations, the majority of updates will be posted onto the SAS section of the BMA website. Everyone, whether you are a BMA Member or not, can reach the negotiations pages here.
From the contract page you can find information from the links on the left. This includes:
- Press releases and reports of joint negotiating meetings
- Frequently asked questions
- Background documents
- BMA members SAS web forum
It is standard practice in all contract negotiations - both in the medical profession and outside – to keep any agreements confidential until all agreements are finalised. This means that we will not be able to give you detailed information on everything that we are negotiating until the package is finalised, as we do not want to risk giving away our negotiating position. At an appropriate stage we will issue further information. Our primary concern is the well-being of our members and while we are committed to communicating as openly as possible, we believe it would not be in your interests to release any information prematurely. When negotiations are finished and you are balloted, we will ensure that you have the information you need to make an informed decision. In the meantime, be reassured that the negotiations are progressing and that we will give you as much information as we can.
Assimilation to the new contract
To help the assimilation process if would be very helpful if all SAS doctors could ensure that they have applied for any points that they were considering applying for, that if contemplating regrading, applications are put forward as soon as possible. Also, S/CMOs should apply for regrading and any staff grades on the old contract should also consider moving to the 1997 contract.
Ballot - We need your details!
The ballot will be UK wide.
We will ballot all those in the SAS group who are covered by the mandate for the negotiations:
- Staff Grades
- Associate Specialists
- Non-GP clinical assistants
- S/CMOs (S/CMOs will consider the deal we reach and decide whether to joint the ballot.)
We can only inform you and receive input from you if we have your contact details. SAS doctors for whom we have contact details will be balloted when we have agreed a contract. You can register your details, update your membership details or join the BMA by clicking here.
Please see the attached letter (appendix 2) which was sent to all SAS doctors on our database for more information on the ballot. If you have not received this letter then it is likely that we do not have your up to date contact details.
Modernising Medical Careers (MMC)
The Committee heard that SASC regularly meet with MMC representatives to discuss developments in the MMC proposals. MMC is a big issue for the negotiations as we want to ensure movement into and out of training for SAS doctors. This is not part of the remit of negotiations but is an important issue for SASC to keep in mind when discussing with MMC.
The MMC timetable is much longer than our timetable for the negotiations.
Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB)
Article 14(5)(a) – Potential Discrimination
The committee heard that the issue of the potential discrimination in relation to Article 15(5) had been reported to BMA Council in September. SASC continues to be concerned that Article 14(5)(a) of the order will discriminate against some doctors. SASC is currently seeking legal advice on this issue, together with a number of other matters arising out of the Order and the PMETB guidance.
Statutory Subcommittees
The committee heard that there were now places for SAS doctors on the two PMETB statutory committees. PMETB had sought applications from one trainee and one Staff and Associate Specialist Grade doctor member for its two statutory committees, the Assessment Committee and Training Committee, to sit on each committee for a one year term starting from January 2006.
PMETB strategy
The Committee noted that the PMETB had launched its five year strategy for how it is to develop postgraduate medical education throughout the UK.
Help and advice for members
The committee heard that BMA advice was available to members seeking help with their applications through askBMA and the BMA’s regional centres.
Regional centres will not be able to advise on the likelihood of success of any application. However, askBMA can give general advice on applications i.e. on the application process/fees/timescales etc. and can signpost applicants to the PMETB website, GMC "Good Medical Practice", and the relevant Royal College or Faculty for the specialty.
Regional services advisers can advise on the completeness of application forms and will advise and represent members in respect of any TCS issues arising from retraining e.g. salary protection and in circumstances where agreed remedial training plans are not being implemented. Advice and assistance can also be given to members who may be contemplating a formal review to the extent of advising whether or not the required process has been followed. Consideration is also being given to the support mechanisms which will be available to BMA members wishing to submit a formal appeal.
The responsibility for completing the application form and compiling the background information including details of referees will be the responsibility of the applicant.
DDRB evidence
The Staff and Specialists Associates’ Committee submitted its evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB). The BMA evidence to DDRB can be accessed on the BMA website by clicking here.
SASC evidence is somewhat different to that submitted in previous years, because of negotiations on the new contract. In summary:
- The aim of the parties is that new contractual arrangements should be implemented in April 2006. Progress has been made on new terms and conditions of service and work has also begun on a new title for the group, with the aim of identifying a title that will reflect the role and status of SAS doctors and one that patients, doctors and the public will recognise.
- On the assumption that new arrangements are agreed for April 2006 onwards, we would ask the review body to make a recommendation for 2006-07 for an uplift to the pay scale in line with the uplift sought for other groups. This is to ensure that the value of the baseline to which the extra funding will be added is retained from April 2006.
- We would ask the review body to take account of relativities with the consultants’ and GPs’ pay awards in future years, in addition to the resources available to deliver the new arrangements, given the current negotiations taking place in relation to these two groups.
- If the negotiations do not progress as intended it is the Association’s intention to submit evidence to the review body concerning a separate pay award for the SAS group for 2006-07 through the submission of supplementary evidence.
The annual conference will be taking place on Thursday 8 June 2006, at the BMA offices, Tavistock Square. Delegates to this conference attend via the national and regional SAS committees.
Chairman: Anthea Mowatt
Deputy: Ashok Pathak
The results of the evaluation form from this year’s conference indicated that a dinner on the evening before the next conference would be of benefit to the doctors attending. Therefore, a dinner will be arranged for Wednesday 7 June 2006 for all those doctors wishing to attend. More information will be sent out about this nearer to the time.
Motion deadlines reminder
Notification that the deadline for submission of motions to the SASC Annual Conference is 12 noon on Tuesday 18 April 2006
Drafting of Motions – Some advice on the submission of motions
It is sometimes the case that motions submitted for inclusion on the Conference agenda, are well intentioned, but worded ambiguously. This means that the Agenda Committee has to put such motions lower in the section where they are unlikely to be reached. To try to avoid this, the Agenda Committee has suggested that in future it amend such motions before they appear on the agenda, checking with the proposing constituency in advance where possible:
- All motions should begin with the word “that”.
- A motion should be drafted in terms which are clear and unambiguous; a motion which is not clear is often relegated to the end of the section with little hope of debate.
- Motions should be kept as short as possible. If it is necessary to incorporate more than one idea, and the region does not wish to divide the motion into two or more completely separate items, the various parts should be itemised (i) (ii) etc so that they may be voted upon separately.
- There is no limit to the number of motions that a region may submit, but with only one day for the conference there is a limit on the amount of business which can be debated.
The Agenda Committee has been empowered by the Conference to draft composite motions covering a number of aspects of important topics, to avoid duplication of debate.
Recognise and Reward Conference
The latest in the annual series of Recognise and Reward conferences was held on the 25th November at the Thistle Hotel in Cardiff. It provoked great interest amongst SAS doctors throughout the UK and neared capacity, with feedback showing that 90% of delegates rated the overall quality of the conference between excellent and good and 86% saying that the event met their expectations.
The conference was held at a significant time for the group, with key issues being the new contract negotiations and the recent establishment of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB). The conference provided an opportunity for delegates to be updated on these topics and to feed their views back to the Staff and Associate Specialist Committee (SASC).
The conference was opened by Mr James Johnson, Chairman of Council, BMA who pledged his support for SASC and its negotiations.
The contract negotiations presentation given by Awani Choudhary, Chair of the SASC Negotiating subcommittee, provided an update on progress and allowed delegates to put their questions regarding the negotiations directly to the negotiating team. Mr Choudhary explained the background to the negotiations and highlighted SASC’s aims. He then detailed a typical week of negotiations and some of the processes behind them. He explained the formation of several working groups and then demonstrated the current position. This position included a list of shared aims and a list of joint principles that had been agreed with NHS Employers.
Professor Sir Alan Craft, Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges presented on the role of the Colleges for SAS grade doctors in the age of MMC. This included a detailed examination of current MMC proposals and an assessment of where SAS doctors were placed in the proposed picture of future medical careers.
The afternoon of the conference consisted of three parallel sessions.
The PMETB session, led by Sir Alan Craft, gave important and useful guidance on the completion of an application under Article 14 for access to the specialist register, and an update on current PMETB issues. It gave those present an opportunity to ask questions in a less formal setting.
The Terms and Conditions of Service session taken by Alan Roberts and Richard Griffiths (experienced BMA staff in employment law and industrial relations), covered the current Terms and Conditions of Service for SAS doctors. This was an interactive session allowing questions to be raised on relevant issues.
The third parallel session taken by Dr Elizabeth Bailey who explored Appraisal processes and gave advice on a constructive appraisal for both the appraiser and appraisee. This concentrated on definitions of appraisal with tips on how to properly prepare, how to best fill out the forms, collect data and sources of further information.
Over lunch a small focus group was held on a new name for a future SAS grade. A report of outcomes from the group discussion was fed back to the SASC/NHSe new name working group for further consideration.
Conferences and meetings
The West Midlands Regional Conference for Staff and Associate Specialist doctors is scheduled to take place on Friday 17 March 2006. The conference aims to update all SAS doctors in the region on the progress towards a new contract and will offer plenty of opportunities to ask questions and join in discussion. This conference is for everyone, not just for BMA Members and everyone is welcome to attend. Places are limited and we are offering discounted registration fees for early bookers (the discounted fee is available until Wednesday 1 February 2006). CPD accreditation has been applied for.
Full information and online booking are available on our website, www.bma.org.uk/conferences.
Contact details:
Tel: 020 7383 6137/6605
Fax: 020 7383 6663
Email: confunit@bma.org.uk
Dates of future meetings – 2005/06 session
The schedule of meetings of the SASC for the rest of the 2005/06 session are as follows:
SASC (UK)
Wednesday 1 March 2006 10.00am
Wednesday 14 June 2006 10.00am
SPP Subcommittee
Tues 24 January 2006 at 10.00am
Tues 4 April 2006 at 2.00pm
Negotiating Subcommittee
Tues 24 January 2006 at 2.00pm
Tues 4 April 2006 at 10.00am
Annual conference
Thursday 8 June 2006