Colleges support “yes” vote on new junior doctor contract

The royal colleges have expressed their support for the proposed new contract for junior doctors and have urged their members to accept it.

Junior doctors and final or penultimate year medical students in England will vote on whether to accept or reject the proposed new contract between 17 June and 1 July.

Jane Dacre, president of the Royal College of Physicians, issued a statement encouraging junior doctors to accept the proposed contract.1 She said, “I know that opinion is likely to be split but, after a lot of thought about what I would do if I were a trainee doctor now, I would vote ‘yes’ in the junior doctor referendum but with a strong commitment to sorting out the challenges and issues highlighted during the dispute.”

She added, “This will not be easy but we need to be able to move to the next stage. You have my commitment to work together, to make things better.” Dacre said that agreeing the new contract was not the final point of the journey but could provide a starting position to build from. She noted, “The prospect of the complete rejection of the contract and ongoing industrial action is increasingly worrying for patients, the public, and doctors.”

This sentiment was echoed by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, which called on all junior doctors working in emergency medicine to exercise their vote on the outcome of contract negotiations. The college said that although there was still a lot of work to be done to resolve the problems of rota gaps and establish sufficient staffing, the agreement of the contract would be the first step in this process.

Clifford Mann, president of the college, said, “This is a key vote and will determine both the content and tone of the discussions relating to the challenges facing emergency medicine in the United Kingdom for many years.” He said that it was inevitable that the compromises made by both sides would be criticised but that the college had welcomed many of the principles established for the first time in the contract.

Mann added, “Resolution of the dispute would provide the best opportunity in a generation to address the non-contractual issues which have blighted postgraduate medical education for too long.”

The final version of the contract was released on 16 June and included changes for doctors who work less than full time.2 One change introduced a premium payment of £1500 (€1900; $2150) for less than full time trainees when they move to the new contract, the BMA said.3 The same supplement would also be paid to doctors on parental leave who later return to a less than full time post.

The second change altered the way a “weekend allowance,” due to be paid under the new contract, is calculated for doctors working less than full time.4

The result of the BMA referendum on the contract is due to be announced on 6 July.