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Jeremy Hunt has moved to head off a potential strike by NHS junior doctors by seeking to reassure them that their pay will not by cut and they will not have to work longer hours under the proposed new contract that has sparked so much anger.
In a letter to Dr Johann Malawana, the chair of the British Medical Association’s junior doctors committee (JDC), the health secretary has sought to defuse the increasingly heated row over the unpopular new contract he has threatened to impose on them.
In the letter, Hunt has offered the JDC, which represents most of the 53,000 junior doctors in the NHS in England, “absolute guarantees” on their pay and working hours - and also a major concession which would not extend trainee doctors’ normal working week to include up to 10pm on Saturday.
On the overall cost of junior doctors to the NHS, Hunt writes: “Firstly, this is not a cost-cutting exercise. I can give you a categorical assurance that I am not seeking to save any money from the junior doctors’ paybill. Whilst I want to see an end to automatic annual increments (with pay rises instead based on moving through the stages of training and taking on more responsibility), these changes would be cost-neutral, rather than cost-saving.
“This will mean that junior doctors would still benefit from four or five progression pay rises as they move through training.”
On the crucial issue of working hours, junior doctors have been particularly incensed about Hunt’s proposal to extend the hours classed as normal working time - and paid at the “standard” rate - from 7am-7pm Monday-Friday to 7am-10pm Monday-Saturday.
Hunt has told the JDC: “I can give an absolute guarantee to junior doctors that this contract will not impose longer hours. No junior doctor working full time will be expected to work on average more than 48 hours a week. I want to see a work review system with teeth that ensures that juniors are not exploited and that addresses issues of overworking if they arise.”
And on junior doctors’ pay - another big issue, as they were estimated to be set to lose between 15% and 40% of their income under the new contract - Hunt writes: “I have asked NHS Employers to develop the details of the new contract to ensure that the great majority of junior doctors are at least as well paid as they would be now. In addition, although the current proposal does not provide protection for those whose pay reduces when they change jobs, under an agreed move to a new contract we would be willing to consider such protection for individual doctors who would otherwise lose out.”
Addressing the widely feared loss of overtime for junior doctors working antisocial shifts - overnight and at weekends - Hunt adds: “In any scenario, I can give an absolute guarantee that average pay for juniors will not reduce. I have already given my assurances that GP trainees will not be disadvantaged compared with the current system. I can also say that it is our intention that flexible pay premia would be used to support recruitment into shortage specialties such as accident and emergency medicine and general practice. We would also include pay protection for doctors who change to shortage specialities and to support agreed academic work.”
The BMA, which negotiates doctors’ terms and conditions, has not yet responded to Hunt’s letter.

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