Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he had with the British Medical Association on proposed changes to the consultant contract prior to his King's Fund speech of 16 July 2015, entitled Making healthcare more human-centred and not system-centred.

Prior to 16 July 2015, Ministers and officials met with British Medical Association (BMA) officers and officials on several occasions in relation to the contract reform negotiations between NHS Employers and the BMA. The Department acted as an observer during those negotiations. This included exploratory discussions in the run up to and during the negotiations, with the formal negotiations running between October 2013 and October 2014. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State also discussed contract reform as part of an introductory meeting with BMA officers in the 2015 Parliament.