Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the illustrative rotas for junior doctors, published by NHS Employers on 18 February 2016, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of doctors switching to night shifts for a single shift only on the effectiveness of those rotas.

Ben Gummer

It is a matter for employers to design rotas that meet the service needs of the National Health Service organisation and the training needs of the doctor. This would include the pattern of working night shifts subject to the limitations in the new contract. NHS Employers is committed to supporting employers to adhere to good rostering practices as the new contract is introduced and will feed this into the contract review process agreed with the British Medical Association as part of the contract negotiations.