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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Government has agreed additional protections with the British Medical Association to protect junior doctors who are whistleblowers.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Government has listened to the British Medical Association’s (BMA) concerns that junior doctors are in a unique position and need greater whistleblowing protections, and it has taken action. The BMA, NHS Employers and Health Education England (HEE) have agreed changes to strengthen whistleblowing protections for junior doctors beyond the scope of existing legislation so that junior doctors can take legal action against HEE, in relation to whistleblowing, as if HEE was their employer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on patient care of junior doctors taking five days of strike action per month until the end of 2016.

Mr Philip Dunne

We were encouraged by the British Medical Association’s (BMA) announcement that it is suspending the rolling programme of five continuous days of industrial action from October to December, which it had previously announced and which would have removed urgent and emergency care from some of our most vulnerable patients.

We have urged the BMA to remove all threat of further industrial action so we can work constructively with junior doctors to address their wider concerns and better recognise their vital importance to the National Health Service.

Prior to the BMA’s announcement, NHS England, working with NHS organisations, had assessed the impact of the industrial action on cancelled operations and outpatient services and had developed plans to mitigate the impact of the industrial action.

Had the BMA continued with their proposed industrial action, based on the levels of disruption during the previous two day all out strike, an initial estimate was that around 25,000 operations and 250,000 outpatient appointments would be cancelled during each five day strike period.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which NHS trades unions have taken strike action resulting in the withdrawal of emergency services.

Mr Philip Dunne

In their industrial action that took place on 26-27 April the British Medical Association withdrew the whole of the junior doctor workforce (the group involved in the trade dispute) from providing emergency care. No other trade union has taken such action in withdrawing the whole workforce covered by the trade dispute when they provide emergency care. For example when other National Health Service trade unions took action in 2015, the Royal College of Midwives asked its members in those services to continue working to ensure essential services were maintained rather than expecting senior midwives or obstetricians to provide cover.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the Junior Doctors’ Committee of the British Medical Association has (a) left negotiations already in progress and (b) refused written requests to return to negotiations on the proposed junior doctors’ contract since any negotiations on that proposed contract began.

Mr Philip Dunne

The British Medical Association (BMA) Junior Doctors Committee walked away from negotiations twice. The first time was after almost a year of negotiations on 16 October 2014. The second time was on 4 January 2016 during negotiations following an agreement at ACAS.

Ministers wrote to the BMA on a number of occasions – four of these letters, between July and November 2015, were explicit requests to enter negotiations. The BMA refused on each occasion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many amendments to the proposed junior doctors’ contract the (a) British Medical Association and (b) management side accepted during negotiations on the November 2015 contract offer.

Mr Philip Dunne

The British Medical Association (BMA) have made five concessions overall. The management side have made 107 concessions overall. These concessions included a number of substantial shifts of position to meet concerns expressed by the BMA including for instance increasing the additional pay received for working at weekends.

(a) The BMA made one concession in relation to the November 2015 offer during the initial ACAS talks, before the commencement of negotiations which ended in February 2016 with no agreement. This was to accept a move from incremental progression to a nodal pay system.

They made further concessions (including in relation to the March 2016 contract), in the agreement reached in May 2016. These were:

(i) Agreement to the extension of plain-time working by two hours per day, with a system of weekend allowances based on the frequency of weekend working for those working more than six weekends a year;

(ii) Accepting the principle of fidelity to the National Health Service, offering locum work at an agreed hourly rate;

(iii) Agreeing a change to the March 2016 contract to reduce from 48 to 46 hours rest period after consecutive night shifts, amended to improve work life balance and continuity of care; and

(iv) Agreeing to remove the rule in the March 2016 contract preventing consecutive weekend working – while retaining a rule that the frequency of weekend working can be no more than 1 in 2 weekends – to allow greater flexibility for doctors and employers.

(b) The November 2015 offer itself had included two concessions in relation to the recommendations made by the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration. In the ACAS agreement, the BMA accepted this November offer as the basis for negotiations. The management side then made a further 105 concessions: four during ACAS talks, 61 during negotiations that ended in February 2016, six after those negotiations ended, and 34 during negotiations in May 2016.