Poulter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department defines the pay envelope in its work on considering the junior doctor contract.

Ben Gummer

The pay envelope for junior doctor contract reform is as agreed by the hon. Member in his previous capacity as a Minister for Health in 2013 when he approved the “Heads of Terms” for the junior doctor contract. The basis of the agreement is that the cost of the new junior doctor contract will not exceed the cost of the current contract, (expressed on a per full time equivalent basis). Subsequently, the current Government has made it clear that savings are not being sought and that junior doctors’ average earnings would not reduce as a result of the changes proposed.