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Report of the Conference of Medical Academic Representatives

13 March 2007

The annual Conference of Medical Academic Representatives was held on Tuesday 13 March at BMA House, London.

Representatives from all areas of academic medicine gathered to hear the keynote speeches, debate key issues and set priorities for and elect the sixteen members of the Medical Academic Staff Committee for the coming year.

The conference took on a different format this year with the keynote speakers introducing topics and delegates actively contributing to policy development in informal break out groups. The following is a summary of the meeting.

Keynote Speeches
Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Chair of the UKCRC/MMC Integrated Training Clinical Academic Careers Panel outlined the Integrated Academic Training Pathway detailing Academic Clinical Fellowships and Clinical Lectureships and how the process of selection would work. He also highlighted some issues for consideration including the geographical distribution, the academic infrastructure and how best to support shortage specialties.

Professor Dame Lesley Southgate, Council member of the Academy of Medical Educators, summarized the aspirations of the new Academy of Medical Educators to develop and promote standards for medical education and develop career structures for medical educators (both clinical and non-clinical) and gave the delegates information about they could become involved.

Professor Sally Davies, Director General for Research and Development and the Department of Health, set out the background and vision of Best Research for Best Health and why the National Institute for Health Research will be central to applied health research in the future NHS.

Dr Richard Tiner, Director of Medicine at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, explained why medical academics were important to the pharmaceutical industry in the UK and the benefits of forging more links between ABPI and COMAR.

Chairman’s Report
Professor Michael Rees, the Chairman of the Medical Academic Staff Committee, addressed the conference via video link from Vienna. He declared his ongoing enthusiasm for the new academic training scheme but highlighted the current problems with the MTAS system as a means of selecting Academic Clinical Fellowship posts and asked Representatives to address these difficulties in debate.

Professor Rees launched the inaugural Good University Guide which had been produced as a direct result of COMAR policy calling for the BMA to produce a clear guide to the employment environment in UK medical schools. The Guide is intended to give accurate advice to medical academic members and will be updated annually from data provided by medical schools.

On negotiating issues, Professor Rees advised that the Committee was working to ensure that there was no slippage on the consultant contract and would continue to work on reducing disadvantages in pay. Steps towards ensuring negotiating issues were high on the MASC agenda had been taken by establishing a negotiating sub group of the Executive Subcommittee and by re-establishing regular relations with University Employers.

The Chairman noted that the National Institute for Health Research and the recommendations from the Cooksey report were both positive initiatives which should provide mechanisms for supporting medical research in the NHS. He advised there was a real need, following cuts to the MPET budget in 2006 (that had threatened Leicester Medical School), to ensure that funding for academic medicine was secure. The MASC had written to the Secretary of State for Health calling on her to implement Cooksey’s recommendation that the funds for academic medicine be ring fenced in the NHS R&D budget.

Professor Rees concluded by highlighting the great potential of UK academia. He reaffirmed his commitment to continue working within the BMA and with external stakeholders to keep teaching and research at the forefront of the policy debate.

Annual Report
The Annual Report of the Medical Academic Staff Committee was received. A copy may be accessed at http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/mascannrep07

Resolutions Passed
Conference passed the following resolutions:

NHS Structure
1. Motion by University of Manchester: That this meeting calls for all CATS and other independent sector contracts to include adequate provision of medical education, training and research.

2. Motion by University of Liverpool: That this meeting calls for urgent research to investigate the impact on quality of care, patient outcomes and health service economies of the Department of Health drives to reduce waiting lists for treatment in hospitals and primary care.

3. Motion by Leicestershire and Rutland Division: That this Conference is concerned about rumours that junior doctors in ISTCs are not achieving the required competencies because of poor teaching and demands that the Deaneries and PMETB rigorously monitor the teaching standards in ISTCs. AS A REFERENCE

Academic and NHS relations
4. Motion by University College London: That this meeting notes with dismay the survey which suggested that a significant number of Higher Education Institutions and their associated Trusts have not achieved Follett compliance targets with respect to their clinical academic staff employees, and re-iterates that these principles should remain the cornerstone of employment best practice.

Regulation
5. Motion by University College London: That this meeting welcomes the decision expressed in the White Paper ‘Trust Assurance and Safety – the regulation of the Health Profession in the 21st Century’, to maintain the principles of professional self - regulation in undergraduate medical education, and expresses the hope that in future the General Medical Council will monitor not only content but also adequacy of resourcing for the education of ‘Tomorrows Doctors’.

Medical education
6. Motion by MASC Executive Subcommittee: That this meeting condemns the reduction of funding for education and demands that all educational monies under MPET levy are ring fenced.

7. Motion by St Georges’, University of London LNC: That this meeting believes that NHS financial pressures, particularly the loss of SIFT income by Trusts, will compromise undergraduate medical education by jeopardising partnerships with medical schools.

8. Motion by Leicestershire and Rutland Division: That this Conference deplores the diversion of resources to hospital service commitments that were intended to inaugurate and sustain an intensive scheme (MMC) to train medical students and junior doctors and calls on the BMA to draw the attention of the Department of Health to such action which could imperil the scheme.

9. Composite motion: That this conference calls on the MASC to work in partnership with the Academy of Medical Educators to:

(i) recognise the value and develop the role of the careers of medically qualified staff, including trainees, in medical education
(ii) actively support medical staff with an interest in medical education.

Academic training and careers
10. Motion by Imperial College: That this meeting is dismayed with the implementation of MTAS selection in 2007 and calls for:

(i) medical academics to be involved at all levels of selection for academic training posts
(ii) medical academics to set the standards and scoring systems for academic competencies within MTAS
(iii) a full review of the application and selection process for ACF posts being included in the MTAS system.

11. Motion by breakout group 2: This conference

(i) welcomes the investment by the government to support the integrated academic training pathways
(ii) recognises the need for continued support for individuals undertaking medical academic positions
(iii) calls on the NHS and academic bodies to commit to and plan for sufficient senior academic and clinical posts.

12. Motion by breakout group 2: This conference deplores the position of the Welsh Assembly government for failing to provide full financial support for the integrated academic training pathways and urges the Welsh Assembly government to commit funds for academic training.

13. Motion from breakout group 2: This conference recognises the increasing number of academics that would like to train and practice flexibly and calls on the NHS and academic bodies to provide resources and support for flexible working for medical academics.

14. Motion by breakout group 3 This conference calls for the opportunity for MASC input to the MTAS review to ensure the relevance of the process to an integrated academic pathway

15. Motion from breakout group 2: This conference insists on reassurance from the NHS, industry and government bodies that adequate numbers of and transparently funded posts for PhD and MDs are available for academic trainees.

16. Motion from breakout group 1: This conference encourages the development of support structures for new academic centres in establishing appropriate environments for academic training. In particular we encourage collaboration between such centres and existing centres of excellence.

17. Motion from breakout group 3: This conference calls on MASC to work with the NIHR to develop a curriculum for competencies in clinical research from academic foundation year training onwards.

Contracts and pay
18. Motion by MASC Executive Subcommittee: That this meeting reaffirms that all negotiations with employers maintain nationally agreed pay and conditions.

19. Motion by Imperial College: That this meeting:
(i) notes that the BMA has identified that there is a pay difference between female and male medical academics even allowing for age, skills, seniority and other factors and
(ii) recognises that this gender pay gap alongside the lack of opportunities for women to return to Universities after a career break is a key source of gender discrimination and prevents medical women’s economic empowerment.

20. Motion by St George’s, University of London LNC: This meeting believes that nationally agreed criteria which transparently reflect commitment of academic time should justify the award of academic additional programmed activities.

21. Motion by Imperial College: That this meeting:

(i) regrets the problems that female junior academics face moving between clinical jobs in the NHS and academic fellowships in the University
(ii) considers that it is unacceptable that female junior academics can lose their entitlement to maternity leave on changing employers
(iii) calls for the MASC to lobby UCEA to address the disparity in maternity leave arrangements.

22. Motion by University of Liverpool: That this meeting requests the MASC to monitor carefully changes to the NHS and USS pension schemes to ensure that doctors transferring from either sector are not disadvantaged.

23. Motion from breakout group 2 This conference proposed that MASC work with the ABPI to promote and develop agreements to facilitate seamless transition of medical academic staff between employers within the NHS, higher education institutions and the industry without detriment to their employment benefits or conditions of service.

Trade union recognition
24. Motion by MASC Executive Subcommittee: That this meeting supports the MASC in establishing its role in representing staff employed in the National Institute for Health Research where issues arise relating to academic issues within the BMA and externally.

Research
25. Motion by MASC Executive Subcommittee: That this meeting calls for the implementation of the Cooksey report ‘A review of UK health research funding’ and demands that the government implement his recommendation that funding for academic medicine is moved into the new ring-fenced budget for research and development.

26. Motion from breakout group 1: This conference demands that clinical research is given equal status as compared to basic science research and this should be reflected in the RAE 2008 or its future equivalent.

27. Motion from breakout group 1: This conference believes that wider infrastructure should be developed within the NHS to support clinical research activity.

28. Motion from breakout group 1: That this meeting, while noting that major positive initiatives (such as the creation of the National Institute of Health Research, and the changes envisaged in the Cooksey Report) are likely to be of considerable benefit to MASC constituents, nonetheless requests the incoming MASC to continue to promote continued recognition and support by the UK Departments of Health of small scale and /or pilot research studies.

29. Motion from breakout group 1: That this meeting welcomes the support that is being given to some medical academics through university business development units, which pro-actively and efficiently support the process of taking potential new therapeutics through to clinical trial stages, and requests MASC to monitor and develop concepts of "best practices" in this field.

Members of MASC 2007-2008

The following were elected to the Medical Academic Staff Committee:

Mr David Adams, Royal Hospitals Group, Belfast
Mr Philip Belcher, Glasgow Royal Infirmary
Dr Martyn Bracewell, University of Wales Bangor
Dr Christine Burness, University of Sheffield
Dr Kenneth Checinski, St George’s Hospital Medical School
Dr Peter Dangerfield, University of Liverpool
Dr Mohamed El-Sheemy, University of Lincoln
Dr Mark Gabbay, University of Liverpool
Dr Anita Holdcroft, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, Imperial University
Professor David Katz, University College London
Dr Sumantra Ray, University of Dundee
Dr Geraint Rees, University College London
Professor Michael Rees, University of Wales Bangor
Dr Mourad Seif, Manchester University
Mr Joannis Vamvakopoulos, University of Birmingham
Dr John Xuereb, Cambridge University

COMAR 2008

Dr Peter Dangerfield was also elected Chairman of COMAR 2008 and Dr Sumantra Ray was elected as Deputy Chairman of COMAR 2008.

MASC Secretariat
March 2007