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The new contracts for specialty doctors and associate specialists (2008) were made available from 1 April 2008. Key documentsThe following documents have been agreed as part of the contract.
Support for EmployersThe following documents are to help with the job planning process
Contract detailsThe specialty doctor grade will provide an opportunity for doctors to have a rewarding career with progression to the top of the grade over a number of years whilst gaining experience and extending and developing their skills base. Fundamental to the contract is that doctors will be required to undertake job planning and appraisal whilst developing a portfolio to record their progress in the job. Commencing with a number of annual increments, doctors will progress through two thresholds by evidencing that they have participated in job planning and appraisal and have developed whilst in the role. Incremental progression between threshold one and threshold two will be at two-yearly intervals and then at three-yearly intervals post threshold two. There is a limited opportunity for eligible doctors to apply for personal re-grading to the "old" associate specialist contract for applications received by employers before 1 April 2008. Those who were eligible based on the existing criteria including the relevant service requirements by 31 March 2009, were able to submit an application on or before 31 March 2009 to be considered for re-grading under the 'window of opportunity' to the new associate specialist terms and conditions (2008). It will be for each trust to determine whether there is a service need for an associate specialist post and if the doctor meets the requirements. The proposal to close the associate specialist grade recognises that historically this grade has not provided a rewarding career pathway. In future, the new specialty doctor grade will provide the opportunity to choose to continue to make a valued contribution to service delivery or to seek to re-enter the training grades. Alternatively, either specialty or associate specialist doctors who wish to progress may choose to apply for entry to the Specialist Register via Article 14 of the General and Specialist Medical Practice (Education, Training and Qualifications) Order, 2003. Doctors currently in the associate specialist (2008) grade will be rewarded through similar arrangements to specialty doctors. The structure of the grade will be the same as specialty doctors and discretionary points assimilated into a main scale. On entry to the grade there will be a number of annual increments. Provided doctors have participated in job planning and appraisal meetings they will initially progress through these increments. They will then progress through two thresholds by continuing to participate in job planning and appraisal and evidencing that they have developed in their role. Incremental progression between threshold one and threshold two will be at two yearly intervals and then three yearly intervals post threshold two. In developing the contract we have given consideration to the implications of the opinion of the Advocate General in the case of Cadman v the HSE. In the event of there being any disagreements over either salary progression or career development processes there will be a mediation and appeals process in place to ensure that these issues are dealt with quickly, fairly and transparently. In relation to the general terms and conditions the working week will comprise of a basic 40 hour week made up of ten programmed activities of four hours. For full-time specialty doctors and associate specialist (2008) this will be based on nine programmed activities for direct clinical care and a minimum of one for supporting activities. There will be arrangements for those working part-time. Outside the hours of 7am to 7pm (weekdays) and for work at weekends there will be extra recognition at the rate of time-and-a-third of whole time basic pay. Where doctors are on-call to be available to work they will be paid a percentage of basic pay depending on the frequency of on call duties: More frequent or equal to one in four six per cent Less frequent than one in four and more frequent or equal to one in eight four per cent Less frequent than one in eight two per cent The original mandate did not include trust grade doctors. We hope that the package will prove sufficiently attractive to both employers and these doctors, and that employers will choose to offer the contract to them. Pages in this sectionget involved FAQs: SAS grade contracts Last reviewed 3 Jul 2008 |
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