Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the review by Professor Sir John Temple of the quality of training for doctors, published in May 2010, what progress has been made in negotiations between the NHS and the British Medical Association on changes to the national contract for junior doctors to better reflect the training needs of doctors.

In October 2013, NHS Employers entered into formal negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA). The intention was to reform the contract for doctors and dentists in training (juniors) to promote higher quality medical education, motivate doctors to achieve excellent results for patients and to ensure that contracts remain fair, affordable and fit for the future.

However, after almost 18 months of discussions and negotiations, the BMA ended the negotiations in October 2014. The failure of negotiations led Government to issue a remit to the independent Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration. The review body will make recommendations on a new contract in July 2015.