British Medical Association (BMA) and its committee structure
August 2008
The BMA was founded in 1832 as an association for doctors. Its two aims are (i) to promote the science of medicine and (ii) to maintain the honour and interests of the medical profession.
Since its inception, the BMA has been closely involved in social reform and has played a large part in helping to bring about legislation which is designed to improve the health of the community.
In its role as the body which represents doctors working in the National Health Service (NHS), the BMA is a registered trade union, not affiliated to the TUC. There are seven main committees representing doctors in public health and community medicine, the staff and associate specialist grades, general practitioners, medical academics, junior and senior hospital doctors and medical students.
The BMA has a membership of around 139,000 at home and overseas. The Association offers a wide variety of services to members through its national and regional structures which consist of a network of regional offices, industrial relations officers with professional staff.
Representative Body
The BMA reflects the views of doctors throughout the UK, who come together at its Annual Representative Meeting (ARM), held in different venues each summer. Approximately 600 doctors form the Representative Body, which is the democratically elected policy-making body of the BMA. The Representative Body discusses many subjects related to medicine which are of vital importance to the public.
Chairman of Council - Dr Hamish Meldrum
President – Prof Sir Kenneth Calman
Secretary - Mr Tony Bourne
Treasurer - Dr David Pickersgill
Chairman of the Representative Body - Dr Peter Bennie
Council
The BMA’s principal executive committee under trade union law. Council is required under the Articles of the Association to administer the affairs of the BMA in accordance with the Articles and Bye-laws and to formulate and implement policies on any matter affecting the BMA and its members between meetings of the Representative Body (RB), providing that these policies are not “inconsistent with any policy already laid down by the Representative Body” (Article 72). The Council also appoints members to the Association’s central boards and committees and has the authority to establish additional committees and working groups. It is responsible for the management of the affairs of the BMA, including the BMJ Publishing Group, subject to the decisions of General and Representative Meetings.
A new constitution for Council was agreed at the 2005 ARM and Council now has a maximum of 38 voting members and a number of ex-officio members. The recent elections were the first conducted under the new arrangement of a single UK constituency. Members will normally be elected to Council for a four year term of office. However, a rolling term is being instigated so that half of the voting membership will be elected every two years. Therefore, for the 2006 elections only, the 50% of the voting members elected with the smallest number of first preference votes will hold office for a two year term.
The UK electoral zones are: Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, North Eastern, North Western, Central, Eastern, London, Central Southern, and South Western.
The branch of practice categories are: general practice, consultants, staff and associate specialists, junior doctors, public health medicine and community health, academics, armed forces, occupational health, members in practice but not covered by the previous categories, retired members, medical students.
Only those members directly elected to Council by the membership of the BMA are eligible to vote at Council meetings; ex-officio members are not eligible to vote unless directly elected in some other capacity.
Chairman of Council - Dr Hamish Meldrum
Deputy Chairman - Dr Kate Bullen
Secretary/Chief Executive - Mr Tony Bourne
The Representational and Political Activities Directorate
Director - Ms Sally Watson
Central Consultants and Specialists Committee (CCSC)
This is the committee which is recognised by the Department of Health (DH) as the body with sole negotiating rights on behalf of senior hospital doctors in the NHS. Through the Joint Negotiating committee machinery it negotiates direct with the DH on all matters relating to the terms and conditions of service of senior hospital doctors employed in the NHS.
The committee has 93 members. All senior hospital doctors may stand for election to the committee through the Regional Consultants and Specialist Committees which provide the majority of voting members. The members elected by the Scottish Committee for Hospital Medical services, the Northern Ireland Consultants and Specialists Committee and the Welsh Consultants and Specialists Committee and the BMA's Representative Body also have the right to vote. Non-voting members include representatives from its specialist subcommittees and from the academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
Chairman - Dr Jonathan Fielden
Deputy Chairmen - Dr Mark Porter, Dr Keith Brent, Dr Ian Wilson
Head of Hospital Services Division – Mr John Maingay
General Practitioners Committee (GPC)
(NB: the General Practitioners Committee was formerly known as the General Medical Services Committee - GMSC)
Deals with all matters affecting NHS general practitioners. The committee is recognised by the Department of Health as the body which represents all NHS general practitioners. It convenes a conference of representatives of local medical committees at least once a year.
Chairman - Dr Laurence Buckman
Head of GPs Division - Ms Gail Norcliffe / Ms Chris Finlan
Junior Doctors Committee (JDC)
The JDC represents all doctors engaged in NHS hospital practice in the training grades, both BMA members and non-members. It has sole rights to negotiate terms and conditions of service for junior doctors and acts on any other matter affecting junior doctors.
Chairman – Dr Ram Moorthy
Vice Chairman - Dr Eleanor Draeger
Deputy Chairmen - Dr Johann Malawana, Dr Andrew O'Brien
Head of Junior Doctors Division - Mr Peter Corpe
Medical Academic Staff Committee (MASC)
Represents all doctors who are full time personnel with contracts of employment from a university, a medical school, the Medical Research Council or other institutions engaged in medical research. The MASC works to achieve optimum terms and conditions of service for the medical university teachers and research workers and seeks additionally to maintain high standards of undergraduate teaching by ensuring adequate recruitment through the maintenance of broad comparability with NHS doctors. The Committee member ship includes a representative from the British Dental Association.
Co-Chairs - Prof Michael Rees and Dr Anita Holdcroft
Deputy Chairmen - Peter Dangerfield, Geraint Rees
Committee Secretary - Ms Sally Girgis
Medical Students Committee (MSC)
This Committee is the main national forum for debate for medical student members of the BMA. Its terms of reference are to represent the views of BMA medical student members, to facilitate co-operation between student members and the medical profession, and to discuss with the Department of Health pay and conditions of service for medical students when working in the NHS.
Chairman – Mr Ian Noble
Deputy Chairmen - Mr David Samuel, Mr John Hallet, Mr Thomas Foley
Committee Secretary - Ms Natalie Breeze
Public Health Medicine Committee
Deals with matters affecting doctors working in public health medicine and community health in established and training grades. The first group are consultants and trainees in public health medicine who are concerned with the health of populations or groups of people as distinct from individual clinical care. The second group are clinical and senior clinical medical officers who work with individual patients in the child health service and family planning service.
Chairman – Dr Chris Spencer Jones
Head of Public Health Division – Ms Sheridan Hammond
Staff and Associate Specialists Committee
Represents senior doctors working in NHS hospital and community trusts who are not in the training grades and who are not consultants or general practitioners (ie. associate specialists, staff grades, some clinical assistants and other non-standard “trust” grades). The SASC has full delegated authority to act in all matters relating to the terms and conditions of service of these senior doctors. The SASC negotiates with the Departments of Health through the Joint Negotiating Committee (Seniors). There are 39 members of the SASC(UK), representing the three devolved nations and English regions.
Acting Co-Chairmen - Dr Ashok Pathak and Dr Greg Dilliway
Committee Secretary - Hugh Townsend
Below is information about a selection of other committees that form part of the Representational and Political Activities Directorate:
Armed Forces Committee (AFC)
Responsible for all matters relating to medical branches of the armed forces and of the reserve armed forces, and so far as possible ensuring that medical officers serving in them are not disadvantaged in relation to their civilian counterparts.
Chairman - Dr J Brendan McKeating
Deputy Chairman - Dr J Olver
Community Care Committee (CCC)
Monitors policy and service trends in community care and advises on the resolution of problems at the interface of primary and secondary health care and social care. Its membership comprises GPs, hospital doctors and public health doctors and specialties including psychiatry, paediatrics and elderly medicine.
Chairman - Dr Helena McKeown
Committee Secretary - Mr Nick Harrison
Occupational Medicine Committee (OMC)
Considers and reports on matters affecting the health, safety and welfare of persons at work and the practice of medicine in industry and allied occupations. It also advises the BMA on the implementation of health, safety and welfare legislation as it affects its members and their working environment.
Deputy Chairman - Dr Susan Robson
Committee Secretary – Mr David Algie
Private Practice Committee (PPC)
Represents doctors engaged in private general and consultant practice (whether whole or part time).
Chairman - Mr Derek Machin
Professional Fees Committee (PFC)
Negotiates fees for a range of non-NHS medical services and has responsibility for sessional doctors working for the Benefits Agency.
Chairman - Dr John Canning
Committee Secretary – Vacant
The Professional Activities Directorate
Oversees the BMA’s work on ethical, scientific, educational and international matters.
Director - Dr Vivienne Nathanson
Board of Science and Education
Assumes a general responsibility for the BMA’s scientific activities. The Board establishes special working parties and steering groups to convene outside experts on specific scientific projects. This process results in the formulation of BMA scientific policy and the publication of reports on a wide range of issues, from the environmental risks of pesticides and hazardous waste to public health topics like diet, physical activity and drink-driving.
Chairman - Sir Charles George
Head of Science and Education – Dr Caroline Seddon
Equal Opportunities Committee
Monitors and reviews relevant legislation and case law relating to equal opportunities that impact on the medical profession. The committee also reviews equal opportunities issues raised by the membership with the Association’s local offices, without becoming involved in individual casework. Furthermore, it publishes appropriate expert advice and guidance on equal opportunities for the medical profession and campaigns to reduce inequalities and inequities in opportunities.
Joint Chairmen - Professor Bhupinder Sandhu and Dr Justin Varney
Committee Secretary – Hilary Forrester
International Committee
Formed to deal with both European and broader international matters and heads delegations to the various European and international bodies of which the BMA is a member.
Chairman - Dr Terry John
Deputy Chairman - Abi Smith
Medical Ethics Committee (MEC)
Considers the ethical implications of all matters to do with the practice of medicine and relations between doctors and their patients. Through the Council of the BMA, it produces ethical advice and guidance on specific issues. This forms the basis of the advice the medical ethics department gives to individual doctors. The committee is responsible for Medical Ethics Today: Its Practice and Philosophy, a comprehensive guide to medical ethics which reflects contemporary medical thinking, and for guidelines and books on many specific topics such as consent, confidentiality, abortion, resuscitation, organ donation and human rights.
Deputy Representatives - Dr Peter Dangerfield and Dr Evan Harris
Head of Ethics – Ms Ann Sommerville
Patient Liaison Group (PLG)
This Group (PLG) was established in 2004 to provide the BMA with an informed patient view on healthcare. The PLG consists of people from diverse backgrounds, and draws on the expertise of lay members including some with direct patient-based links. There are currently eleven lay members and five doctors. The Group works to ensure that the patient voice is represented on many issues being addressed by the BMA.
Chairman - Dr John May
Deputy Chairman - Dr Carol Webley-Brown
Committee Secretary - Dr Caroline Seddon/Darshna Gohil
Committees of the devolved administrations:
Scotland
Doctors in Scotland are represented through the Scottisth BMA committees and BMA Scotland Council
Wales
Doctors in Wales are represented through the Welsh BMA committees and BMA Wales Council
Northern Ireland
Doctors in Northern Ireland are represented through the Northern Irish BMA committees and BMA Northern Ireland Council
For further information, please contact the Parliamentary Unit:
Address: BMA House, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JP
Email: parliamentaryunit@bma.org.uk