Junior doctor members of the BMA will be asked to vote on proposed improvements to the junior doctor contract in England. The improvements have been negotiated between the BMA junior doctors committee, NHS Employers and the Department of Health and Social Care.

The offer would see changes resulting in a total of £90 million worth of investment over a four-year period for junior doctors.

Dr Jeeves Wijesuriya, Chair of the Junior Doctors committee said: “It is incredibly important that we do more to ensure junior doctors feel supported in their professional careers and working lives, especially at a time when they are working harder than ever before to deliver care to the public in an under-pressure NHS.”

What does the deal include?

  • Improvements in rest period entitlements and safer working hours limits.
  • Increases to rates of weekend pay.
  • £1,000 a year extra allowance for all less than full-time trainees.
  • Enhanced rate of pay for those working shifts finishing after midnight and by 4am.
  • Recognition of training requirements in rostering.
  • New and increased penalties for employers when trainees work beyond safety limits.

The committee has been lobbying for three years to negotiate changes to the current contract and secure investment.

Dr Wijesuriya said the proposed deal “contains other significant enhancements to further improve the pay, conditions and training opportunities for junior doctors across the NHS and are a result of a new collaborative, constructive negotiation process that has learned from the mistakes of the past.”

The referendum will run from 14 June to 25 June and is open to all junior doctor BMA members in England and medical student members who are in their final or penultimate year of medical school, as well as junior doctor members in the devolved nations who will be working in England from August.

Full details of the agreement can be found here.