§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the protection of salary for junior doctors working at hospitals as part of a rotation, with particular reference to Great Ormond Street. [R] [153418]
§ Mr. HuttonJunior doctors receive a banding supplement reflecting the amount and intensity of their out of hours work. When junior doctors contract for a rotation they are made aware of the bandings of the posts they will be working in. As circumstances change, posts may be adjusted and rebanded and the pay for new entrants to such posts may reduce to a level commensurate with the work undertaken. However, for those already contracted to fill those posts, rotation pay protection (built into the national contract for all doctors in training) applies.
National health service trusts are responsible for ensuring that appropriate rotation and salary arrangements are in place for junior doctors, in line with national guidance.
Under those arrangements, there is regular monitoring to ensure that rotas are satisfactory, that junior doctors hours are within agreed limits and that safe services are provided.
Great Ormond Street has these arrangements in place and policies and procedures under which any concerns can be raised and addressed.
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of whether hospitals are changing junior doctors' hours of work statistics to ensure that they conform to the(a) New Deal and (b) European Working Time Directive. [R] [153734]
§ Mr. HuttonInformation collected on junior doctors' hours in the assessment of New Deal compliance, as required by their contract of employment, is based on information supplied by the junior doctors themselves. Before this data is collated centrally, it is validated by junior doctors at national health service trust level. We have no reason to suppose that these returns are anything but an accurate representation of the work situation. Information is not collected centrally on Working Time Directive compliance at trust level; this is a matter for the hospitals concerned.