Rushanara Ali – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on patients’ safety of removing working hours safeguards from junior doctors’ contract.

Ben Gummer

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made clear his strong commitment to ensuring safe working in the National Health Service to support his ambition for the NHS to become the safest health care system in the world.

This includes guaranteeing that a new contract for junior doctors will not impose longer hours and that contractual safeguards will be strengthened – so that some junior doctors work less. For example:

– No junior doctor will be contractually required to work more than an average of 48 hours a week;

– The provisions of the Working Time Regulations will continue to apply, and even those who choose to opt-out (legally allowing them to work longer) will be limited to an average of 56 hours a week;

– Maximum of 72 hours in any week (lower than the current 91 possible under legislation;

– No shift rostered to exceed 13 hours;

– No more than five long shifts consecutively (long=more than 10 hours);

– No more than four night shifts consecutively (where at least three hours fall between 11pm and 6am; and

– No more than seven consecutive on-call periods.

To further support safety, a system of agreed work scheduling and reviews will be introduced which will give junior doctorsa contractual right to report exceptions where his or her day-to-day work varies from the work schedule. This includes concerns about hours spent in work (including rest breaks), or the agreed working pattern (including time made available for educational opportunities).

The contract will require the employer to assess any issues as they arise, and make timely adjustments through a ‘work schedule review’. In exceptional approved circumstances, doctors would be compensated for hours worked outside their work schedule.