The Government has approved a second trade union to join national negotiations over hospital doctors’ contracts alongside the BMA.
The Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association is now able to take part in national bargaining on pay, terms and conditions for all grades of hospital doctor in England in negotiations with NHS Employers and the Government.
This includes junior doctors, who have in the past year conducted several strikes in a dispute over changes to their contract including weekends and weekday evenings being redefined as regular working hours.
The HCSA, which unlike the BMA is affiliated with the TUC, is now seeking recognition for similar collective bargaining rights for its members in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
HCSA general secretary Eddie Saville said the decision was ‘positive and refreshing’ and would ‘create a clear emphasis on protecting and promoting the role of hospital doctors at work across the UK’.
