BMA welcomes improved rest facilities for junior doctors

A year on from the striking of a £10 million funding agreement with the government, the BMA has welcomed progress on improving rest facilities for junior doctors.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been either spent or allocated by dozens of trusts in England with the aim of improving rest facilities for junior staff. As a result of the funding, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary was able to open an extensively refurbished mess room after receiving £30,000, while South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust used £30,000 to install brand new on call facilities including bedrooms, a shower room and kitchen at its main site in Southwark, London.

An agreement reached last year between the government and BMA as part of the 2018 junior doctors contract review saw £10 million being pledged to assist trusts in England with redeveloping on-site rest and sleep facilities. All 210 NHS hospital trusts in England received £30,000, a total of £6 million. The remaining balance of £3.7 million was shared equally between 122 hospital trusts defined as having a greater need.

Sarah Hallett, chair of the BMA junior doctors committee, said: “Securing funding from the Department of Health and Social Care dedicated to improve the rest facilities at hospitals across England, was a significant step and an important victory in bettering the working lives of hardworking and often overstretched junior doctors. It is hugely encouraging to see that so many trusts have either allocated funding or have already taken steps to introduce or upgrade sleeping facilities and doctors' mess areas.

“However, it is important that we do not become complacent either over the funding that was approved last year, or over the challenges many junior doctors face in the form of fatigue in the workplace, and how this can impact both their safety and that of patients. Similarly, we are alarmed by reports from trusts who are told by Health Education England that the funding needs to be spent by 31 March 2020 otherwise it will be lost.

“Even though trusts are encouraged to spend this funding sooner rather than later, extension will be granted when this hasn’t been possible owing to practical reasons, and we have received reassurances from NHS Employers who are liaising locally with trusts to ensure the money can be ‘carried over’ to the next financial year. Junior doctors must have a direct say in how the funding their trusts have received is used and it is important that JDFs [junior doctor forums] continue to work with their trust’s management to ensure that their employers deliver the changes and improvements that are needed.”