The policy is as set out in the “Terms and Conditions of Service of Hospital Medical and Dental Staff and doctors in Public Health Medicine and the Community Health Service in England and Wales (September 2003 as amended)”, which reflect the contractual arrangements negotiated with the British Medical Association; copies of this publication are available in the Library. The provisions vary depending on circumstances. Where a junior doctor is required to be resident, no charge will be made. Where a non-resident junior doctor is required to stay overnight in hospital as part of an on-call rota or partial shift system they are required to pay a proportion of the lodging charge depending on their length of stay. Where there is no requirement to be resident, junior doctors may be charged for accommodation in the same way as other national health service staff. Full details can be found in paragraphs 173-183 of the terms and conditions.
No discussions have been had with London national health service acute trusts in London about junior doctor accommodation. The provision of accommodation is dependent on the type of contract a junior doctor has. National terms and conditions provide that, where a doctor is required to be resident, no charge will be made for accommodation. We are not aware of any trusts in London who are failing to comply with these terms.
This information is not collected centrally.
This information is not collected centrally.
Junior doctors can use the same facilities available to other national health service staff to find accommodation. Arrangements vary locally, but the majority of trusts are likely to have either an accommodation office or an officer available to help staff find accommodation. There is also a national NHS housing website for staff to use to search accommodation, which trusts and local agencies access. This can be found at:
www.housing.nhs.uk/
We have not removed free accommodation for junior doctors. We have removed the statutory requirement for all first year junior doctors to be resident. Where individual junior doctors are contractually required to be resident, they will continue to receive free accommodation. Where they are not, it is entirely appropriate that they are treated in exactly the same way as other national health service staff. Medical student recruitment remains strong. The “Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration” (DDRB) stated in their 37th report (2008), that they were
“pleased to note that there continues to be a more than adequate number of good quality applicants to study medicine, which as we have previously commented, is strong evidence that medicine is seen as an attractive career”
Copies of the DDRB’s 37th report have already been placed in the Library.
The Department made no estimate of the number of junior doctors not provided with national health service-funded accommodation for its 2007 Evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration. Until August 2007, all first year junior doctors were statutorily required to be resident and therefore had free accommodation provided. Free accommodation continues to be provided for those who are contractually required to be resident. The Department’s evidence did include reference to reports that a third of those junior doctors who were eligible for free accommodation did not use it. This was based on an estimate from NHS Employers, who stated in its evidence that
“some third of all FYl trainees provided with free residence chose not to occupy it in 2006-07”
We understand that final numbers suggest that this figure was nearer to a quarter.
The terms and conditions of service for junior doctors do incorporate the right to free accommodation for those who are contractually required to be resident. These terms and conditions have been in place since December 2000.