How the end of imposition of the junior doctor contract unfolded

Sir David, who was appointed by the Government to broker a deal with the BMA, wrote to the chair of the junior doctors committee, Dr Johann Malawana, and BMA council chair, Dr Mark Porter, with a ‘final offer’ on Tuesday 9 February.
It offered to change the definition of ‘plain time’, so that hours outside of Monday to Friday 7am to 9pm and Saturday 7am to 5pm would be considered unsociable.
It would also pay premium rates to junior doctors who worked one in four weekends. This, he said, would mean the ‘majority’ of trainees working on a Saturday would receive premium pay, compared with 15% of trainees in the original offer.
The offer would give mor emoney to junior doctors working non-resident on call.
Sir David proposed that doctors would receive 200% pay if they breached the European Working Time Directive, up from 150% under the previous offer.

The chair of the junior doctors committee wrote to health secretary Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday 10 February – the day of the strike – saying that he ‘recognised the movement made by your negotiators’, but the BMA has made movement itself.
He reiterrated the JDC’s offer to reduce basic pay, and increase the pay of junior doctors working on a Saturday – which was cost neutral.
Dr Malawana said that, by accepting this model, Mr Hunt would conclude the dispute.

The letter tells the health secretary that the BMA ‘refused to compromise on its insistence that the whole of Saturday must be paid at premium rate’.
He concludes: ’Following consultation with chief executives and other leaders in the service, it is clear that the NHS needs certainty on this contract and that a continuation of a dispute, with a stalemate and without any clear ending, would be harmful to service continuity, with adverse consequences to patients.’
He adds:’On this basis I therefore advise the Government to do whatever it deems necessary to end uncertainty for the service and to make sure that a new contract is in place which is as close as possible to the final position put forward to the BMA yesterday.’

The health secretary told Parliament that he had ’decided to proceed’ with the imposition following instruction from Sir David Dalton.
The contract would redefine the definition of ‘plain time’ to include Saturday from 7am to 5pm and pay a premium of 30% for Saturday ‘plain time’ working, if the doctor works one in four weekends.