Press release: NHS Confederation responds to government's new proposals for consultants

17 Apr 2003

In response to the Government's proposals for the next steps on the consultant contract, Gill Morgan, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation stated: "We believe that the service will welcome a clear decision about the way forward. We have always believed that the contract offered a good deal for consultants and for the service and there is now an opportunity to implement this at local level."

"We believe it is helpful for the Government to re-emphasise that incentives can be applied across the range of consultant activity and are not just meant to encourage elective work. There is a real opportunity for local managers and consultants to devise jointly innovative and radical ways of securing service improvement linked to better rewards for consultants. However devising effective incentives is a complex and challenging task that has proved hard to deliver even at national level."

"Whilst it was never the intention of employers to force consultants to work at nights or at weekends against their will, the Government statement that this will not be obligatory should ease the concerns that consultants may have. With this resolved, we hope they will now enter into serious discussion at local level about how the contract or incentives can best be used to benefit both consultants and the services offered to patients."

"What is important is now to move on from the unsatisfactory position we have been in since the rejection of the consultants contract and actually get down to implementing sensible proposals which will benefit doctors, patients and the NHS at local level."

"The NHS Confederation will continue to consult with trusts and we will watch with interest to see how the "fee for service" pilot projects work and learn from their experiences."

ENDS

Notes for editors

1. The NHS Confederation represents the organisations that make up the NHS. Our members include the majority of NHS trusts, primary care trusts and health authorities in England; trusts, health authorities and local health groups in Wales; trusts and NHS boards in Scotland; and health and social services trusts and boards in Northern Ireland.
   

Contact details

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