BMA Scotland newsletter
October 2007
Dear Colleagues
Welcome to the October issue of the BMA Scotland newsletter.
I’m delighted to welcome the contributions provided by MSPs from the four main political parties to this edition of our newsletter. In a special feature, they have outlined their health priorities for the Scottish Parliament.
In August, the newly re-named Scottish Government launched a nationwide discussion document entitled Better Health, Better Care. The responses to this consultation are intended to inform the development of the Government’s health and wellbeing action plan, which is scheduled to be published by the end of this year.
This consultation presents an opportunity for politicians, health professionals and the public to have a wide-ranging discussion about how all services within the NHS can be best placed to deliver timely, evidence-based care to meet the changing health needs of patients. The success of any health strategy lies in the ability and willingness of the Scottish Government and NHS Boards to engage effectively with the medical profession.
Doctors are consistent innovators in developing new treatments and new ways to deliver care and their skills, experience and knowledge will prove an invaluable resource in delivering this strategy. I would urge you all to read it and if you have any comments or would like to put your questions to local MSPs, please contact the BMA Scotland Public Affairs Office (press.scotland@bma.org.uk) who will be happy to help.
- BMA withdraws from talks over SAS contract
- Better Health, Better Care
- Changes to the NHS Pension Scheme
- New IT DES for Scottish practices
- Lanarkshire Staff Grades win Optional Points case
- VSO in partnership with NHSScotland
- Modernising Medical Careers Update
- Health priorities for the new Parliament
- UK Foundation Programme Office
- FHO1 Accommodation
- Abolition of graduate endowment
- BMA Scotland publishes action plan to tackle teen smoking
- Smokefree Scotland – making a real difference
- Coming soon… Scottish Council Elections
- New leader for Scotland’s consultants
- Edinburgh trainee elected to lead Scotland’s junior doctors
- New Chair of the Scottish Medical Students Committee
- Death of Dr Keith Davidson (1926-2007)
- Events
Negotiators representing Staff and Associate Specialist (SAS) doctors have formally withdrawn from talks with the Government over their stalled contract. The contract, which was agreed with NHS Employers and the Department of Health in November 2006, has been with HM Treasury’s Public Sector Pay Committee since February this year. The withdrawal from the talks follows the UK Government’s failure to release the contract and allow the BMA to proceed to ballot and let SAS doctors have their say on the new deal. The Government failed to meet the 17th August deadline set by the BMA’s SAS Committee for release of the contract, which prompted the SAS representatives to step down from the negotiations.
Dr Ashok Pathak, chairman of the BMA’s SAS negotiating committee, said: “This delay by the Treasury has undermined the hard work and determination which the BMA, NHSE and the Department of Health put in over many months to agree a modern contract for SAS doctors – the last group of health professionals in the NHS to seek a contract.”
The BMA has issued details of the contract and is seeking the views of SAS doctors and dentists on the way forward. A special conference will be held on 5th November to decide on further action.
| IMPORTANT NOTE - Since this newsletter was produced the date of the conference has had to be changed to 1 December 2007 |
Better Health, Better Care
The Scottish Government launched a discussion document on the future strategy for health and wellbeing in Scotland in August. Responses to the “Better Health, Better Care” consultation will inform the Government’s action plan, which will determine its healthcare strategy and key actions for the next three years and focus the NHS on key targets for 2008/9 and beyond. The consultation comes just two years after the review carried out by Professor David Kerr in 2005 although the Government has committed to maintain the principles originally outlined in the Kerr Report. The consultation continues the theme of shifting care from hospitals to community based services and also introduces key SNP manifesto policies such as the abolition of prescription charges, the introduction of direct elections to NHS Boards and reducing waiting times from GP referral to treatment. BMA Scotland will be responding in due course. Read the full document.
Changes to the NHS Pension Scheme
In September, NHS Employers and trade unions in England and Wales announced the final agreement on changes to the NHS Pension Scheme, which will take effect on 1 April 2008. In Scotland there is a separate NHS pension scheme which is undergoing an independent review. It is expected that the Scottish scheme will be amended in line with the new-look NHS Pension Scheme for England and Wales, with a formal announcement anticipated in the coming weeks.
Key changes announced for England and Wales are:
Existing staff
- Retain their normal retirement age of 60 (55 for Mental Health Officers);
- Benefits continue to be related to final salary (1/80th pension), or 1.4% of career average earnings in the case of GPs, plus a lump sum of 3 x pension;
- Option to take an increased lump sum by giving up part of pension;
- Improved survivors’ benefits.
- Normal pension age of 65;
- Benefits related to final salary (1/60th accrual rate), or 1.87% of career average earnings in the case of GPs, but no separate lump sum;
- Option to surrender pension to provide a lump sum up to 25% of the pension value;
- Ability to take all or part of pension while continuing to work and build up more pension;
- Improved survivors’ benefits.
Employer’s contributions have been capped to ensure that the scheme remains affordable to the taxpayer, whilst a new tiered contribution system is being introduced to ensure that the cost of the scheme is spread more fairly across the membership.
New IT DES for Scottish practices
The Scottish General Practitioners Committee has agreed a new Information Governance and Data Quality Standards Directed Enhanced Service (DES) for GP Practices. This DES will be funded by under-spend on last year’s Cardiovascular Disease DES – approximately £3.9m. The average practice will receive around £3,800 for completing the requirements of this one-off DES, which is set to run from 1 October 2007 to 31 March 2008.
The requirements fall into two broad categories: ensuring that practices are compliant with a basic list of standards for information governance; and completing an action plan, agreed with the host NHS Board, on how the contract will improve data quality and information governance. Please click here for the specifications for the DES.
Lanarkshire Staff Grades win Optional Points case
Whilst much is being said about progress towards a new contract for SAS grades, BMA Scotland continues to work hard on maintaining and improving current terms and conditions of service for this key group of doctors. A recent case in Lanarkshire shows that this can often be an arduous process but that persistence can pay off in the end. The former primary care trust in Lanarkshire had failed to agree on a system for awarding Staff Grade Optional Points which came in under the 1997 Staff Grade contract. Despite various attempts to resolve this by the LNC and through direct approaches from individual members of staff, the situation remained unresolved at the time of Board unification in 2004. NHS Lanarkshire initially took the position that they would only address this from 2004 onwards. A Board-wide scheme for awarding both Staff Grade Optional Points and Associate Specialist Discretionary Points was agreed with the LNC and put in place for 2004 onwards, but despite repeated attempts to address pre-2004 awards via the LNC, management refused to address this issue.
The BMA backed a formal dispute by the Staff Grade group and a solution has now been secured following an appeal. All current employees who would have been eligible are now being invited to submit applications for points to be awarded in respect of any of the years between 1997-2004. It has been agreed that a single application will be used to cover these years and that there will be a BMA representative on the decision-making group. For further information on the Lanarkshire case please contact Scott Anderson (email sanderson@bma.org.uk) or for general enquiries please contact your local assistant secretary or askBMA.
VSO in partnership with NHSScotland
A partnership between international development charity VSO and NHSScotland, launched at the beginning of this year, is seeking to encourage more Scottish doctors to consider volunteering overseas. The scheme aims to reduce some of the biggest barriers faced by experienced doctors who wish to volunteer their skills in the developing world. Under the partnership NHSScotland has agreed to guarantee the continuation of terms and conditions of employment for health professionals who choose to volunteer with VSO. This, in effect, means that doctors who volunteer under the new scheme will be treated as if they are on secondment. Their pension contributions will be paid, although at a reduced rate, while they are overseas and they will be guaranteed a position at the same grade
within the NHS when they return.
Ruth Grearson, Health Recruitment advisor, said: “VSO urgently needs doctors with at least 3-5 years post-registration experience to support healthcare in developing countries, with a particularly strong need in Malawi. We understand that doctors face a lot of pressures, both financially and in terms of their careers, so this partnership with NHSScotland is hugely positive and we hope it will encourage more Scottish doctors to consider sharing their skills overseas.”
In return for volunteering their skills overseas, VSO offers doctors a comprehensive volunteer package including return flights, basic accommodation, a local living allowance, NI contributions and insurance, as well as comprehensive training in Scotland and the country of placement. Placements are generally for one year but shorter placements are available. Please click here for more information or email Michele Turner, head of volunteer recruitment, at michele.turner@vso.org.uk
Modernising Medical Careers Update
SJDC has continued its discussions with the Scottish Government Health Department on plans for ongoing support for unplaced junior doctors based in Scotland beyond October. This page outlines a number of other developments that have taken place since the last newsletter.
Douglas Review
The group, led by Professor Neil Douglas, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, set up to provide recommendations on the best way forward for the 2007 specialist recruitment process for junior doctors published its final report in August. The report concludes that MTAS sparked the biggest crisis within the medical profession in a generation, and stated that future appointment systems must have the full confidence of the profession before they are introduced.
The group’s recommendations include the following proposals:
- Additional new training posts need to be included in the 2008 and 2009 rounds in specialties with high competition ratios and growing workforce needs.
- Flexibility for appointees should be maximised in order to minimise social disruption and support appointees’ career development.
- Urgent work needs to be done to understand and rectify the low number of UK graduates applying to some specialties, including psychiatry, paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecology.
- There must be co-ordinated planning of medical student numbers and training numbers with realistic estimates of the number of trained doctors required.
StR Payscales and Terms and Conditions of Service (TCS)
The Scottish Government Health Directorate has published the updated pay circular for hospital doctors and dentists. This circular informs NHS employers of the introduction of the Specialty Registrar Grade (StR) including Fixed Term Specialty Training Appointments (StR (FT)) and the associated payscales. It includes information on amendments to the national pay and conditions of service of medical and dental staff in hospitals, public health medicine and the community health service in respect of pay on return to training. Please click here to view the circular.
The TCS for this group of doctors have been amended to incorporate references to appointments in the grades of Foundation House Officer 1 and 2, and Specialty Registrar appointments, and to remove references to the closed grades of Registrar and Senior Registrar. The TCS have also been updated to include the revised maternity leave and pay arrangements, and to incorporate provisions relating to adoption leave, parental and carers leave and flexible working arrangements. The revised TCS are included as Annex C in the circular. Please click here to view the circular.
Future recruitment and selection to specialty training in Scotland
NHS Education for Scotland (NES) has established a Specialty Training Selection and Recruitment Working Group which met for the first time in July. It has been tasked with conducting a quick review of the process and to commission work required for next year. By late September the Group hopes to produce a generic framework on the recruitment and selection to specialty training for next year, which it intends to issue to the NHS Boards for consultation. The BMA’s Scottish Junior Doctors Committee (SJDC) is represented on the Group.
NES also hosted a Modernising Medical Careers national workshop on the way forward for MMC in Scotland earlier this month. The workshop was being held to evaluate this year’s recruitment and selection to Foundation and Specialty Training in Scotland and to look at the lessons learned and discuss future arrangements.
The SJDC has also turned its attention to future recruitment and selection to specialty training in Scotland. SJDC participated in the NES Workshop which, along with the interim report from a UK-wide independent review by Professor Sir John Tooke, will significantly influence the way forward from 2008 onwards. SJDC representatives presented the meeting with the findings of a SJDC survey to ensure that the views of all junior doctors in Scotland are able to influence the process. Please click here for the results for the survey.
Short term contracts for specialty registrars and foundation doctor contracts
SJDC raised concerns with the Chief Medical Officer regarding the awarding of short-term employment contracts to specialty registrars (StRs) which only cover the length of their first placement. For some, this may be as little as six months. The offer letters to successful StRs stated that the educational programme would be offered as “a continuous period of training” whereas an employment contract would be issued “for the duration of your first placement”. The implications for individual trainees as a result of these short-term contracts have been significant, particularly concerning the payment of removal and travel expenses.
NHSScotland employers also announced that they would not be issuing one year contracts for FHOs from 31 July 2007, as had previously been agreed. They explained that this was due to the fact that host health board arrangements, where junior doctors have a one year contract held by a single NHS Board even if part of their year’s training is completed in a neighbouring NHS Board area, were not in place. Please click here for further information.
NHSScotland employers have committed to discussions with SJDC to clarify the issue of relocation and travel expenses for junior doctors by December 2007. Discussions will also take place with a view to moving to host health board arrangements from August 2008. If any StRs or foundation doctors have any problems locally with removal or travel expenses, they should contact askBMA. Tel: 0870 60 60 828, email:askBMA@BMA.org.uk
Health priorities for the new Parliament
MSPs returned from the summer recess in September when the Scottish Parliament reconvened. The SNP-led minority administration rebranded itself to become the Scottish Government and unveiled its legislative programme for the coming year. We invited the health spokespeople from the four main parties in Parliament to outline their health priorities for Scotland.
By Nicola Sturgeon, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
The new SNP Government recently announced its programme for the coming year and one of the key priorities will be health in Scotland.
Our challenge is to improve the health of the nation, whilst ensuring the highest quality services for those who are sick.
Recent reports have highlighted that life expectancy rates have improved but striking health inequalities still exist between rich and poor areas.
We know that health is strongly influenced by life circumstances. That is why we are committed to addressing inequalities in health before disease develops. We will do this by ensuring resources are targeted at poorer areas where they make a real difference. We must also provide the support for people to take responsibility for their own wellbeing.
A sharper focus on prevention, early intervention to intercept ill health before it becomes a chronic problem, a patient focussed service that is easy to access and delivered as close to home as possible and a willingness to listen to the needs of those that use the National Health Service and work in it. These are our pledges to the people of Scotland.
We confirmed the abolition of hidden waiting lists a system that has caused a great deal of anguish and frustration. We have set a transformational 18-week waiting time target for 2011 and through the annual review process made sure that NHS Boards realise they must deliver the 62 day cancer target by the end of the year.
We will also bring public health legislation into the 21st century ensuring that Scotland is in the best possible position to prevent the spread of disease and deal with modern day threats to public health.
Our Local Healthcare Bill will encourage greater public and patient involvement with direct elections to health boards to ensure community involvement in how local health services are delivered.
We will consult on a Patient’s Rights Bill to achieve a balanced relationship between health care providers and those who use NHS services.
Work will continue to target the issue of binge drinking and alcohol misuse as the impact on health has signification ramifications for the NHS.
Plans to raise the purchase age for cigarettes to 18 should decrease the number of young people smoking and send a strong message that tobacco use is dangerous and costs lives.
Scotland can be healthier, and with services targeted appropriately we can make sure that people achieve better quality of life, improved health and life expectancy. But when they do get ill we must be able to provide a service that is responsive to individual need and effective in providing a consistent level of care what ever part of the country you live in.
By Margaret Curran MSP, Scottish Labour Party
The challenge for any Government is to balance short term health issues with the need to redesign services and prevent illness.
It is a difficult balancing act with resource implications, the wishes of the public, the desires of the various stake-holders and many pressure groups all to contend with.
But I firmly believe that it is the job of all parties to ensure we continue with measures designed to ensure that we tackle health challenges upstream – rather than fish the bodies out of the water after they have taken ill.
This is politically difficult. It is not easy for Government to set aside millions of pounds worth of resources on outcomes which will only be seen in five, ten or even twenty years.
The investment in breast-feeding support, supervised tooth-brushing, awareness campaigns and the many other initiatives, cost money, take time and do not pay short-term political dividends.
But these measures are as important as the ambulance, doctor, nurse or consultant.
Labour will continue to ensure that progress is made on public health and that the health inequality agenda is tackled.
That requires tough choices around investing in those communities most in need and will require a shift of resources and effort.
Labour will seek to ensure that Scotland becomes the first nation in the world to introduce immunisation against HPV, the cause of cervical cancer in women.
We will ensure that the Kerr Report is delivered in its true sense to ensure that the shift in balance of care takes place.
We will hold to account any Government which is not bold enough or radical enough to ensure that we transform the health of our society.
The Smoking Ban is but one example of the radical nature of public policy change which is required.
How we tackle obesity, alcohol problems, lack of exercise and the lack of mental wellbeing requires equally radical thought.
When it comes to workforce, it is the job of the Government to ensure that the right skills are available in the right communities for those most in need.
The public, quite rightly, expect high quality services for the tax pounds they pay. They rightly expect innovation and change to take place and they expect that those public servants who work in our health service and beyond make a difference.
They will also want to ensure that the Government connects health to other public policies through transport, housing, employment, education and support for families.
It is only by connecting public policy in this way that we will actually see the shift which we need to in order to change the health profile of our nation.
By Ross Finnie MSP, Scottish Liberal Democrats
The Kerr Report, unanimously endorsed by all parties in the Scottish Parliament, set out the framework for a modern NHS: delivered predominantly in local communities; with greater emphasis on preventative anticipatory care; and a recognition that moves towards specialisms and external pressure such as the working time directive called for a reshaping of acute service delivery. Liberal Democrats continue to support the framework set out in the Kerr Report.
For Liberal Democrats the NHS is a 24/7 service, so having a division called "NHS 24" seems a bit of an anomaly. We recognise that some 90 per cent of health care is delivered through primary care, so our approach is to give parity of both importance and esteem to the primary and secondary health sectors.
Liberal Democrats want even more people to be treated, more quickly, more appropriately, closer to home. We think every community should have access to improved local health facilities, with a wider range of services under the same roof and we want that service to be appropriately available on a 24/7 basis. We were concerned, therefore, at the findings of the recent report on out-of-hours care. We accept that the previous arrangements for our GPs were unsustainable, but as the report concludes, the present arrangement for out-of-hours care is also unsustainable.
We want all health practitioners (GPs, pharmacists, nurses, allied health professionals, optometrists and dentists) to work together to produce a model that delivers high quality primary care on a 24/7 basis, recognising the proper role of GPs, nurses and all health care workers in that delivery and removing the artificial boundaries created by invention of the so called "NHS 24".
We must have much greater focus on outcomes. We cannot measure the success of the NHS either on how much money is invested or necessarily on the quality of the inputs or false waiting time targets. The true measure of success is, surely, how much patients’ health has improved as a result of NHS care and treatment.
Our long term health priority remains helping Scots to change their habits and lead healthier lifestyles, with a particular focus on tackling alcohol misuse. We think it is important to differentiate between chronic alcoholism and binge drinking. Both have serious, but distinct health consequences and as such will require different approaches. We will be pressuring the Scottish Government to engage fully with the alcohol industry and health professionals in order to develop the best possible approach to treating and preventing both strands of alcohol misuse.
We remain committed to the NHS and improving the health of the nation. Liberal Democrats will fight for a patient-centred, outcome orientated NHS.
By Mary Scanlon MSP, Scottish Conservatives
One of the key health priorities for the Scottish Conservatives is improving the public health of Scotland.
It is clear that there is an enormous job to be done to tackle issues from sexual health to alcohol and drug abuse. We would like to see a more personalised message on public health being delivered by schools to their young pupils, and by GPs to the wider community.
We are also passionate that mental health remains high on the agenda of the new Government. Over the past 40 years, there has been no reduction in the number of people suffering and dying from mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia. This contrasts with the reduction in the number of deaths from diseases such as stroke, heart disease and cancer over the same period. Late diagnosis and late intervention are still issues in mental health which we must tackle.
We would like to see a register of how long people have to wait before receiving counselling or psychological care. And we want better support for mental health services to underpin drug and alcohol detox and rehab strategies, where appropriate.
Another priority for the Scottish Conservatives is dentistry. The government must engage with the dental profession to improve access to NHS dentists immediately.
On the whole, Scottish Conservatives believe that the present system of healthcare in Scotland leaves too much power in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats and not enough in the hands of GPs and patients. We want to rebalance the system in the other direction. We want to see professionals, rather than politicians, make the important judgments about the best interests of their patients. We need to get rid of centrally-imposed and politically motivated targets which distort clinical priorities and demotivate staff.
And ideology should not stand in the way of improving patient care, greater utilisation of NHS resources or the investment of independent sector money in our NHS for the benefit of NHS patients in Scotland.
Finally, I would like to state that we will work with the grain of the Government’s reforms where they are doing the right thing and acting in the interest of patients, such as the retention of Ayr and Monklands A&E facilities. Scottish communities need local health facilities. We will not lose sight of that.
UK Foundation Programme Office
The four UK Health Departments have established a UK Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO) to develop Foundation Programme training and assessment, promote best practice and continue to develop a robust recruitment system for foundation doctors across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Please click here for further information.
This website is intended to provide official information for medical students, foundation doctors, foundation schools, deanery staff and anyone involved in recruiting or training foundation doctors. It will include information on applications, training and resources. The recruitment process for 2008 applications to Foundation Programmes has been published. Please click here for details. Applications will open on 29 October until 9 November, although the application form will be available on the UKFPO website from 8 October.
FHO1 Accommodation
As a result of changes to legislation (which came into force on 1 August 2007), FHO1s are no longer statutorily required to work in a resident capacity in hospitals. This means that resident on-call accommodation no longer has to be provided free of charge although it is expected that employers will honour any agreements they had already made with FHO1s starting on 31 July 2007. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed that free accommodation for FHO1s was previously tax exempt because it enabled the “better performance of duties” by PRHO/FHO1 doctors and because being resident was a statutory requirement. With the removal of the requirement, the tax exemption no longer stands. After August 2008, the tax liability for FHO1s who are given free accommodation will be calculated on an employer by employer basis. The taxable benefit will be calculated on the basis of the cost to the employer of the accommodation. If foundation doctors are experiencing any problems regarding accommodation locally, they should contact askBMA. Tel: 0870 60 60 828, email: askBMA@BMA.org.uk
Abolition of graduate endowment
BMA Scotland has responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on it plans to abolish the Graduate Endowment Fee. The fee, which replaced tuition fees, is currently set at just under £2,300 and is paid by Scottish and non-UK EU domiciled students after they graduate.
BMA Scotland has welcomed the plans as a means of reducing the burden of debt on students in Scotland and enabling people from all sections of society, who have the ability, to study medicine. However, it also noted that any changes to alleviate student debt must not leave Scotland’s higher education establishments at a disadvantage and the plans should be supported by a wider review of higher education funding.
Whilst BMA Scotland supports moves to end student debt, it has highlighted a number of issues that must also be considered as part of the wider scrutiny of the proposal. For example, it is vital that continued funding for bursaries, many of which are funded by the graduate endowment, is guaranteed. In addition, consideration must be given to the fact that the graduate endowment is only a small part of the debt burden on students and there are also those studying for second degrees, or who have come to Scotland from elsewhere in the UK, who will not be covered by this move. BMA’s Scottish Medical Students Committee SMSC is keen to discuss with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning how to make higher education affordable to all student groups.
BMA Scotland publishes action plan to tackle teen smoking
BMA Scotland has published a five point action plan aimed at tackling teen smoking and is calling on the Scottish Government to implement the plan to support the purchase age increase for tobacco sales. The recommendations would help enforce the age increase, which rose from 16 to 18 on 1st October 2007, by reducing the availability of cigarettes to young people.
Most smokers begin in adolescence and the younger someone starts smoking, the less likely they are to give up. Smaller packs of cigarettes are cheaper and therefore more appealing to younger people. Similarly, vending machines are often used by young people to buy cigarettes because there are no age checks in place. With more than 13,000 people dying every year in Scotland from tobacco use, the equivalent of 35 a day, more must be done to discourage young people from taking up smoking in the first place.
The Action Plan calls upon the Scottish Government to implement the following measures:
- Tobacco vending machines should be banned.
- Legislation to prohibit the sale of packs of 10 cigarettes should be introduced.
- A positive licensing scheme, already in place for shops that wish to sell alcohol, should be introduced to support the implementation of the age increase.
- Cigarettes should not be displayed at the point of sale.
- Long term investment in comprehensive and targeted smoking prevention and cessation services.
Smokefree Scotland – making a real difference
The Scottish Government published the findings of an evaluation study into the impact of the smoking ban, which came into force in March 2006.
The results show:
- a 39 per cent reduction in second hand smoke exposure in 11-year-olds and in adult non-smokers;
- an 86 per cent reduction in secondhand smoke in bars;
- an increase in the proportion of homes with smoking restrictions;
- no evidence of smoking shifting from public places into the home; and
- high public support for the legislation even among smokers whose support increased once the legislation was in place.
Are you frustrated with the direction of health policy or by planned changes to medical regulation? Are you keen to influence and debate the key issues facing the medical profession in Scotland today? Then why not stand for election to the BMA’s Scottish Council? Elections for the 2009-2011 session will begin later this year.
Scottish Council is the cross-branch of practice committee which deals with matters relevant to the whole medical profession in Scotland. It consists of a number of directly elected members from each of the branches of practice, with a further six members elected by all BMA members in Scotland. Members are elected to seats on Scottish Council for a 3-year term, with 3 one-day meetings a year at the BMA Scotland offices in Edinburgh. Travel and associated costs are reimbursed in line with BMA expenses policy. A formal notice will follow in the BMJ in due course. In the meantime, for more information, please contact Claire Lang on 0131 2473013 or email: Clang@bma.org.uk or see the BMA website (www.bma.org.uk) for more details.
New leader for Scotland’s consultants
Dr Charles Saunders, a consultant in public health medicine in Fife, has been elected as the Chairman of the BMA’s Scottish Consultants Committee. Dr Saunders has served as the chairman of the BMA’s Scottish Committee for Public Health Medicine and Community Health and is also a member of Scottish Council and the UK Consultants Committee. Dr Lewis Morrison, a consultant geriatrician in Lothian, and Dr Jane Lolley, a consultant psychiatrist in Aberdeen, were elected as the two deputy chairmen of the committee.
Edinburgh trainee elected to lead Scotland’s Junior Doctors
Dr Alan Robertson, a specialty trainee doctor in general medicine at Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary was elected chairman of SJDC at its meeting last month. Dr Robertson, a graduate from Glasgow University Medical School, has experienced first hand the effects of the current reforms to medical training, having personally gone through the MTAS application process earlier this year. Commenting after his election, he said: “With the application process for 2008 due to begin in just a couple of months, I fear that junior doctor recruitment will face as big a problem as it did earlier this year. Juniors across Scotland need a strong united voice to make sure they are listened to and I hope to lead them effectively through this difficult time.”
New Chair of the Scottish Medical Students Committee
Anna Riemen, a medical student in her final year at Dundee University, has been elected as the Chair of the Scottish Medical Students Committee. Mori Mansouri, a third year student at the University of Edinburgh, was elected as Deputy Chair.
Death of Dr Keith Davidson (1926-2007)
Scottish Council paid tribute to Dr Keith Davidson at their last meeting following his death on 21 May. Dr Davidson had a long history of involvement in the work of the BMA which began with his membership of the Glasgow Local Medical Committee in the 1950s, followed by his appointment to Chair of Scottish Council in 1978, and culminated in his vice-presidency of the BMA in 1983. Very much respected by his colleagues, he is remembered as one of the most effective representatives of his day, both in terms of general practice and the medical profession more widely.
Events
Becoming a Consultant
Date: Tuesday 6th November Location: BMA Office, 14 Queen Street, Edinburgh
The BMA Scottish Office has organised this half-day course on “Becoming a Consultant” which is aimed at SpRs and recently appointed consultants. Numbers are limited to 40 so please book your place early.
Cost: £20 (BMA member rate), £35 non-member rate. Fees include VAT
Please contact Mhairi Weatherston for a Registration Form – mwheatherston@bma.org.uk, Tel 0131 247 3003
A Doctor’s Guide to implementing the White Paper on the Regulation of Healthcare Professionals
This conference, to be held on 30 January 2008 at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, includes addresses from Dr Harry Burns, CMO, Professor Neil Douglas, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and Professor Alastair Scotland, Director of the National Clinical Assessment Service.
Topics to be discussed include:
- The White Paper on the regulation of healthcare professionals – implications for doctors
- Medical revalidation and recertification: an update from the GMC
- Setting the standards for the specialist elements of recertification
- Making the White Paper happen in practice: the reality of implementation
- Tackling concerns and managing poor performance
Bringing the BMA to doctors in the workplace
Date: Tuesday 30th October, 12noon - 7.30pm
Location: Medico-Chirurgical Society, Aberdeen Medical School, Foresterhill Campus
As part of our ongoing work to get closer to our membership and bring the skills and expertise of the BMA to doctors, BMA Scotland is visiting selected hospital sites across Scotland in 2007. Whether you are a member and want to see the range of activities that the BMA does on your behalf, or a non-member interested in the benefits of membership, all doctors are welcome to come along to find out about what the BMA does on behalf of the profession and meet BMA experts to discuss a range of issues. Doctors can drop in at any time of the day and key note talks will take place at various times during the day.
Specialists will be present from:
- Regional Services, offering advice on employment law;
- BMAS, offering financial advice and signposting financial products of special interest and benefit to BMA members;
- BMA Pensions department, offering latest advice on issues relating to retirement and pension arrangements;
- BMA Scotland public affairs team, with information on how the BMA influences the health care debate in Scotland.
All doctors and medical students (members and non members) are welcome to attend.
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