Changes to consultants’ local clinical excellence awards set to be imposed

The government and NHS Employers are set to impose changes to the consultants’ local clinical excellence awards (LCEA) scheme from this April after negotiations on reforming it broke down.

The scheme recognises and rewards NHS consultants in England who perform over and above the standard expected of their role. Consultants’ representatives, the BMA, and the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) have been in talks with the government and NHS Employers for two years about how to make the awards fairer.

A joint statement made after the collapse of talks said that agreement on a package of reforms had not been reached and that separate communications and supporting information would be released shortly, setting out “details and next steps related to future LCEA rounds.”

The breakdown of …