§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
What discussions they are having with the British Medical Association's Junior Doctors' Committee about improving the hourly rate of £4.02 paid to some junior doctors for their work at night, weekends and bank holidays. [HL4055]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThe independent Doctors and Dentist Review Body makes recommendations to the Government on the remuneration of doctors and dentists working in the National Health Service, including the rates of pay for out-of-hours work. The Government accepted, in full, the Review Body's recommendations for junior doctors pay in 1999.
Almost all junior doctors are contracted to work additional hours beyond their standard. 40-hour week, to provide continuity of patient care and to protect their training needs outside the normal working week. Their out-of-hours pay rates reflect the expected call-out across different working patterns: 50 per cent of their standard rate for on-call working, 70 per cent for partial shift working and 100 per cent for shift working. These different percentages were never intended to be exact calculations in which each hour was rewarded individually, but rather a formula designed to produce broadly similar overall earnings and actual hours worked, irrespective of working pattern.
The basic pay of first-year newly qualified house officers, who represent about 12 per cent of all junior doctors, is about £16,700. However, their typical earnings are almost £23,400 when account is taken of their out-of-hours pay. We hope for a successful outcome to talks with the British Medical Association Junior Doctors' Committee about the junior doctors' pay system, their contract and their conditions of service.