MEDICS TEMPERATURES RISING

22-01-2008

Birmingham's University Hospital Trust has caused a ferment in the medical world with plans to introduce a new, specialist medical role. Critics say it's all about cutting costs.

A foundation trust’s plans to tear up the national consultant contract and introduce a lower paid sub-consultant grade have been strongly criticised by the British Medical Association.

Birmingham University Hospital wants to hire the medics who would also have fewer opportunities to get involved in developing and innovating services.

The BMA central consultants and specialists committee has slated the consultation.

CCSC joint deputy chair Mark Porter said: ‘We would be completely against it and advise people not to get involved in it. The only motivation we can see for people doing this is to effectively reduce the terms and conditions of consultants.’

In a consultation document, Review of the UHBFT Medical Workforce Structure, the trust says it plans to develop a ‘non-traditional’ senior doctor employed on a contract drawn up solely for the trust.

It says the new role of subconsultant specialist doctor would have ‘terms and conditions based on the current consultant contract but with an appropriately reduced salary scale’.

It says the failures of MMC (Modernising Medical Careers) have left a significant number of junior doctors without a training post and they could be used to fill a subconsultant grade.

Doctors already at the trust will not have their contracts altered, the consultation document says.

Dr Porter said all trusts had the right to draw up their own doctors’ contracts for more than a decade but so far none had done so for consultants.

UHBFT medical director Dave Rosser defended the trust’s plan as something that appealed to some doctors at his trust, particularly those with young children.

He said the project was more about questioning the role of consultant, something that is not well defined. ‘I see it as a niche role. I would be lying if I said we are not interested in money. Clearly we are.’

At a meeting of the Medical Staff Committee last night, Stirrer blogger, Dr David Nicholl, was unable to get a straight answer from Dr Rosser as to why UHB were pursuing this policy now other than for purely financial reasons to exploit the problems of medical oversupply.

Dr Nicholl also cited the case of a different Foundation trust within the West Midlands which has appointed in effect a ‘sub-consultant’ to a post which the relevant Royal College wouldn’t recognise, as the job plan was “unworkable”

This Trust is now being threatened with the removal of its training status in that specialty as a consequence. As one of the other consultants at the meeting pointed out to Dr Rosser "I would take the worst consultant job in the worst place in the country over one of these jobs in my own hospital".

Dr Nicholl commented “This is a recipe for major discontent and exploitation with the setting up of a 2 tier consultant service. Patients need to know who is in charge of their care and that they are getting appropriate training and updates to ensure that they get the highest quality medical care”