What you will learn
The conference agenda is designed to update and support LNC reps on current issues and priority work areas. This is a great opportunity for LNC representatives across the four nations to prepare themselves for their role and its challenges, refreshing knowledge of current issues and sharing good practice with colleagues.
On the day we will be:
- updating on key issues including the ongoing pay campaign and priority work areas
- hearing from national JDC chairs
- offering a selection of workshops on key issues for LNC reps
- updating you on plans for the year ahead.
Breakout sessions - optional
Breakout groups: attendees can choose two from the following options.
An introduction to issues-based organising
An overview of the new style of organising and campaigning that we are adopting at local levels within the BMA. How do you identify an issue and what sort of issue can become a campaign? What is the benefit of this approach? We will look at examples and consider opportunities. This session is intended to give you a working knowledge of what issues-based campaigning means, and what reps attending fuller workplace organising training can expect to learn from it.
If you have undertaken workplace organiser training already then you do not need to attend this session.
Pay errors and fixing them
This session covers the different sorts of problems that can prevent doctors from being paid properly, on time and the right amount, which can be especially common for those rotating most frequently. We will consider the tools and tactics that can help force improvement, how you can help doctors spot and raise issues most swiftly, and how you can escalate issues where they are most frequent or serious.
Dealing with rota problems
This session will outline common problems with rotas, and how to deal with them in a way that benefits doctors now – as well as maximising the chance that next cohorts of colleagues will not have to face a repeat of them. Please come ready to raise any examples for us and fellow attendees to help you work through.
Enforcing training access for trainees
This session considers the relationship between the training doctors should expect and the jobs they are contracted to do, and the tools available to you to ensure they can get the intended educational benefit from training posts rather than too often being used for service delivery. We will cover the rollout of self-development time in the Foundation Programme (across all UK nations), opportunities to reflect this arrangement in core/specialty training as well, and how it can best be enforced, as well as the role of work schedules and exception reporting to assist with this for those in England.
2016 TCS contract clinic
Drop-in session to consider difficult issues arising from the 2016 TCS not covered in the other workshops. This will be led by questions/scenarios raised by attendees, and we can also run through key entitlements under the TCS that are most often implemented wrongly and can be addressed to benefit doctors – from protecting breaktimes at night, to personalising work schedules, to dealing with leave entitlements when bank holidays fall on zero days. Relevant to England.
2002 TCS and using monitoring/banding
Drop-in session to consider difficult issues arising from the 2002 TCS, principally with monitoring and banding. This will be led by questions/scenarios raised by attendees, and we will cover how you can best ensure monitoring rounds are valid and accepted by your employer so that doctors’ pay most fully reflects the hours they are working in practice – not just the unrealistic theory of their rotas.
Most relevant to devolved nations, as well as parts of England where this contact remains in use for locally employed doctors.
