§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his Department's change of policy regarding the place of registrars' and senior registrars' contracts following the abolition of regional health authorities. [33227]
§ Mr. MaloneSubject to formal negotiation with the medical profession and following the abolition of regional health authorities, contracts for registrars and senior registrars will be held by national health service trusts with deans of postgraduate medicine overseeing their educational needs. The detail of the new arrangements has yet to be agreed but it will need to ensure that continuity and quality of training programmes are protected under the new arrangements.
§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures will be introduced to aid junior doctors within training rotations to negotiate new contracts every six months with NHS trusts; and if he will make a statement. [33231]
§ Mr. MaloneDetailed arrangements for the transfer of junior doctors' contracts to national health service trusts are being discussed with the medical profession. These discussions include a package of safeguards. The six elements of this are
national terms and conditions of service with a degree of local flexibility;a "lead trusts" scheme to ensure that doctors on rotations are not required to strike new employment contracts with each new posting;continuity of service via the Health Authorities Bill, now secured;a network of employment, educational and service-level contracts tying the deans, trusts and junior doctors into a relationship designed to safeguard educational standards and appropriate levels of training;439Wa review of the proportion of junior doctors' salary costs funded by the deans; andadditional training of trust personnel staff to avoid some of the problems currently arising when trusts manage house officer and senior house officer contracts.
§ Mr. BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he will take to ensure that NHS trusts will honour agreements on nationally negotiated packages for junior doctors with special reference to the new deal which limits their hours of work. [33226]
§ Mr. CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are planned to ensure that NHS trusts implement national agreements limiting junior doctors' hours of work when NHS trusts are responsible for their contracts; and if he will make a statement. [33230]
§ Mr. MaloneNational terms and conditions of service continue to apply to junior doctors including the limits on junior doctors' hours under the new deal which are set out in "Terms and Conditions of Service for Hospital Medical and Dental Staff (England and Wales)". All national health service trusts are required to comply with these limits.
§ Mr. CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many additional staff will be required in each NHS trust to manage junior doctors' contracts when their contracts are held at trust level; and if he will make a statement. [33229]
§ Mr. BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what will be the cost nationally of each NHS trust personnel department employing at least one additional member of staff to deal with junior doctors' contracts in the event of their being transferred to trust level after the abolition of regional health authorities. [33234]
§ Mr. MaloneIt is for individual trusts to make decisions about staff numbers.
§ Mr. BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made as to whether NHS trusts' personnel departments have staff with sufficient experience and knowledge to manage the complexities of junior doctors' contracts. [33228]
§ Mr. MaloneWe are considering what training is necessary to ensure that registrar and senior registrar contracts are managed effectively.