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Ok, so we can. Yeah, yeah, we're live now. Uh, hi, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. We have three amazing speakers from the U Ama Alex Claire and Daniel. Uh, they're going to talk about understanding your work contract, how to achieve the best work life balance and every little bit that you need to know while you're starting your first job in the trust. Ok. Do great. Um, yeah, I'm, I'm Daniel. Um, I'll just quickly say at the start, um, if anyone is in UK and you're not already a member, we're gonna have a bit of a membership offer, er, for you as well. So I'll put that on the chat now, but we'll speak more about that, um, later. Um, maybe it's best we introduce ourselves. So I, I'm Dan and I work, uh, sort of on the membership side of things at the BMA. Um, so that'll be sort of my, my bit at the end. Um, yeah, I'll pass you on to, to Claire to introduce herself. Oh, hi, everybody. I'm, uh, an employment advisor and I, um, work for the BM and I cover, um, um, trusts in West, um, London but obviously, um, the NHS is one overall employer. So we'll be talking to you about all your terms and conditions if you, um, come to a post in the UK. And I do apologize. I haven't got my camera on. I thought rather you've got my voice than me. Lose you. Hello to Alex? Ok. Hi, everyone. I'm Alex. And thank you very much for coming to this. I do the same job Claire does, but in the southeast of England instead. Cool, I guess um Clade won't take it away and then we'll sort of move between us all, I guess. Yeah. Great. Thank you so much guys for introducing yourself. Uh We're going to start this webinar from the I MG series. Um who, who would like to start first? I think Alex is gonna stop. Ok. Great. Yeah. Ok. Brilliant. So, um I'll just start by saying that firstly, apologies if some of what we say, if it seems quite simple or patronizing, that's really not the intention. We're trying to cater to everyone, including those already very familiar with the NH SS and its structures and those who know absolutely nothing about it. So, um with that in mind, please, can we go on to the next slide? Ok. So we've all introduced yourself to us and we're from the British Medical Association which um just in case anyone doesn't know what that is, we have a trade union and professional body for doctors for all doctors in the United Kingdom. So that means we represent your rights as employees and we also represent your rights as a profession. So one of the key things that we really want to get across in this is that there are already loads of I MG doctors in the UK. As you can see, um by this graph, many of them are already our members. This figure is only going to go up and as far as we're concerned, that's absolutely brilliant. At the moment, Im Gs make up about 40% of registered doctors in the UK and it is absolutely dependent on all the hard work done by Im GS and Im GS are the future of the NHS. So please, if you are considering to come to work in NHS, you will not be alone and we will do our very best to support you as your professional body and trade union. So then this is for um anyone who doesn't know the UK has four devolved regions, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Now, England and Wales are pretty much uniform in terms of pay and conditions, although can be occasional divergences where Scotland and Northern Ireland tend to have their own. Um Well, we have their own rules when it applies to what rights they give to their doctors. So if you work in Scotland, you could be on a slightly different contract. For instance, if you were a junior doctor. So this is our breakdown of who's who. So the NHS it says here, main provider of health care in the country. It's also the main employer of all doctors through either NHS Trusts or GP practices. Now, there are also private employees in the country and we do still have members in the private sector. So if you're coming to the UK to work in the private sector, please don't feel that you can't join us. We have a GMC which is a regulator as it says here it registers and checks doctors and it will take action to regulate them if needed. So if it is felt that the doctor is not fulfilling their obligations because say they are guilty of malpractice, then the GMC will normally step in to regulate them the worst. Um Yeah, the worst sanction that this can give is it will remove them from the register. So they won't have a license to practice medicine in the UK, medical defense organizations. They support you if you are subject to GMC procedures because that's not something that our insurance covers. It is absolutely vital that when you come to work in the UK, you join a defense body as well as joining us, we will often work close to a defense body because a lot of the time um issues that happen are the responsibility of both of us to support our members with. But please do join one of the defense bodies. Should you work in the UK and many of us, and as I've said, we are your trade union and professional body. So we will give you individual employment support and advice, whether that comes to negotiating pay or representing you in workplace procedures. Alongside this. Oh, he skipped side to Hs England. Thank you. Um Alongside this, we also have bodies such as NHS England Health Education, England, which as this notes has now been trained into, changed into workforce training and education and many other organizations depending where you are in your medical career. These will either be very impactful on you or they will mean absolutely nothing to you. But it's just to be aware that they exist. If you have any more questions about them, please do get in touch with us so we can give you a more detailed breakdown. Ok. So this sums up what the main terms and conditions of service are in the NHS uh other private employees, it will be different. But the vast majority of doctors work in the NHS, you have the consultant contract, the SAS doctor contracts. Now SAS means specialty doctors, staff grades, associate specialist and specialist grade, the junior doctor contract and the GP contracts. Now, the way these work is that these are national frameworks and agreements that each individual NHS employer has to honor. So if for instance, you are a junior doctor and you get given your contract, it has to match for national terms and conditions, what we would strongly advise all members to do, as it says at the bottom here is when you get your contract contact us, so we can check your contract. Normally, whenever it's junior doctors each year, somewhere between 20 25% of contracts deviate from the national terms and conditions. And it's normally because of an administrative mistake, but it's important to get in touch with us to alert us to this. So we can then make sure they do not deviate. In your case. We also have local contracts. Now, these will sometimes be called locally employed doctors trust grades, clinical fellow. E which is a very nebulous term. Now, a trust or any other employer can essentially put whatever they want to in a locally employed doctor contract. And we do have some instances where trusts will try to put them on worse terms and conditions than the national contract. So once again, once you get that, please check with us and if it does not match the national terms and conditions, we can come in and we can advocate on your behalf. Ok, next slide, please. So if you receive a job offer, these are all the documents that you should receive. So there's the offer letter as it says here, this should include your job title, your start date, the terms and conditions of pay offered and the length of contract, your contract of employment. This contains full details of terms and conditions and pay it should be given to you when you start work. What may happen in some instances is you will have a contract and, or rather you have an, a letter and it will just say your terms and conditions will be in line with the national terms and conditions. So say you were starting as a consultant and it would just say that quite often the main thing to do that is you can find that copy online, it's on the website NHS Employers or you can find it with any search engine. If you have any questions about that, get in touch with us to ask about it. So we can give you a breakdown of what that contract would actually entail. You have your rota which should have the details of your expected job plan and your timetable. Now, as it notes here, if you're a junior doctor and you're in training, you should get a work schedule for SAS doctors and consultants, it's a job plan and job plan is different from work schedule, but we can cover that. Everyone has any specific questions about that. Now, this also details that if you have training opportunities or any academic elements in the contract that should be detailed in the contract because it's very key to make sure that you get things in writing. So if you're sending off a letter and it doesn't mention the training opportunities that the employer said they would give to you when they spoke to you about the job, get in touch with us. So then we with, you can contact the employer to ask that this be put in writing because what you don't want to do is where you think you've been guaranteed training opportunities. And then it turns out these training opportunities have been removed. Pay slip you should receive each month. If you're on a contractual. If you're in contractual work, there is a chance that if you're doing local work or what's often referred to as bank work, then the pay may be done on a weekly basis. But I would imagine most people listening to this, if not all will be employed and therefore pay should come once a month. It would normally be towards the end of the month. If you don't get your pay slip, contact the trust to get your pay slip and always keep a copy of it because we need to be able to check it or rather you need to be able to check it and we need to be able to advise you if its contents is correct to make sure that you're being paid correctly as your contract states, you should be a can excite, please. So as I just said here with you earlier of it, we can check your contract for you. We can check your voter for you. This is where you put it into our automated system and it will come back and it will tell you if it is compliant with the 2016 contract. The 2016 contract is a junior doctor contract. So that's something that is specific to juniors. And then, as I've mentioned, we can advise you about your contractual terms and pay. What will normally happen. If you have any queries, you'll contact us and you'll be put through to one of our advisor. This will either be depending on how you do, whether it's over the phone or over an automated chat function. If it's then decided that you need more hands on support because of the complexity of your case, you'll then be assigned to a local advisor who will then be in touch with you to support you with your case going forwards. OK. Next slide, please. So we're now going to discuss the key elements of the different contracts and as of really stress, it's just important that you have an awareness of these. So you don't need to be able to remember them all off the top of your head because that's what we're here to do. Ok. So visa pay scales now, as is evident in these, all of these are contingent um where in where in your job you are, depending on which point that you join on. What we find often with IM GS is they will join. But a trust will say that they are not going to recognize all of the experience that they have if this happens, get in touch with us so we can support you with this. The trust aren't forced to agree with it, but we can normally help with this because obviously it's completely unfair if you have a tangible experience behind you in your medical career and you join. But the trust try to force down your pay by saying that they are not going to recognize, say two years of your time as a doctor, locally employed doctors are a little bit more complex as this says, there is no national pay scale. But if the employer has any sense, it should mirror one of the current pay scales above because otherwise there would be no incentive for you to take the job. It's very important to stress that this is only for basic pay and it does not include enhancements that you would get for working on calls, weekends on social hours, London waiting, flexible pay, premier, et cetera. So your actual take home pay each month depending on what sort of your work schedule your voter is saying could be substantially more potentially. Ok. Next slide, please. So it's part of this relevant only to juniors. If this is for full time employees, if you are less than full time, it's pro rated. So you are given 27 days plus bank holidays. Normally it's eight bank holidays. We actually did have more this year because we had an extra couple added in. Um because our royal family were dying. Now, we you should be given rather you should give six weeks notice if you're booking leave. What we would always advise is give as much notice as possible. So if you know that you're going to be going on holiday in three months time, then give them three mo three months notice. Study leave. You have 30 days a year for all, unless you're a first year foundation trainee. Um the f one, they get 15 days per year and it's scheduled in teaching training. Now, there are instances where sometimes this isn't included in your work schedules in the way that it should be. If you spot that it isn't get in touch with us and get in touch with a trust because that's something that should be clearly designated in your work schedule. So you know what time you are meant to be doing the training, then you also have self development time for all foundation doctors. And now you have paid sick leave, which when you first start is one month, full pay and two months, half pay in the first year. And then each year it goes up in incremental points until five years. At which point, your entitlement is six months, full pay and six months half pay, which means you could have a continuous period of sickness that lasted for 12 months. And in the first six months, you would be paid your full time salary and then in the second six months, you would be paid half of your full time salary. Now, this is the same information, but for consultants and SAS doctors, SAS doctors, it's slightly different as it outlines here, you will have five weeks plus two days. After two years, it goes up to six weeks plus two days, which gives you 32 days overall. And then after seven years, you'll have 33 days, you will also get bank holidays on top of it. As it notes here, some trusts have agreed extra annually for Sax doctors, which is where there can be an element of local variation. So it is worth asking the trust when you start if they are doing that or not consultants, six weeks and two days, 32 years. After seven years, they will get 34 days study leave with consultants, 30 day study leave over three years sick pay similar to the juniors increases from one month, full pay and two months half pay in the first year to six months, full pay and six months half pay after five years with it going up a month at each year. Ok. So now we're going to talk about our locally employed doctor's campaign. Now, this is something that we have expired. Next slide is fine. Um This is something that we have started um relatively recently because we noticed that with a lot of the attention that's going on the national disputes that we're currently involved that actually the locally employed doctors are in danger of getting behind. So the first thing to do would be to check if you are on a locally employed doctor contract. Now, sometimes this can be hard to tell because uh an led contract will have different contractual elements in it. And it is worth asking your employer, do they consider you to be a locally employed doctor or do they think you're on one of the national terms and conditions? Because quite often they're not actually sure. Now local employed doctor contracts can often be fixed term, which means they would only run for say a year and after a year it expires or sometimes they will be substantive. But that is something else that is always good to check with the employer when you start because they're not always the best at communicating this information to you clearly. Now, as it outlines here, if you're a junior doctor, for instance, you could be on terms that mirror the old 2002 junior doctor contract instead of the 2016 doctor contract, the main area where this would be significant would be for um various pay enhancements where you would have a what we call a band in supplement, which as it says here is 20 to 80% of basic pay, depending on which band you fell in. Banding can be quite complicated and it's not always clear which banding someone should be on because it depends on the hours that they work, um, across each week. So do get in touch with us if you're not sure you may or may not be able to exception, report, exception report is when a junior doctor or rather a doctor in training can report that they have had to work too many hours that have breached the working time directive, depending on what your contract says. You may or may not be able to do this, but it's always worth trying to report because what we don't want is for I MG doctors to be coming to work in the NHS and then being completely exploited as it says here as well. The contracts will almost certainly if they are local contracts have different terms relating to notice pay, redundancy pay and maternity pay. So for instance, national contracts notice would be three months in a lot of locally employed doctor contracts. Notice is often one month redundancy pay. Some of the locally employed doctor contracts will try to push you into only statutory redundancy pay, which means you wouldn't get access to the contract redundancy pay. So this would be less and that's the same with maternity, et cetera. These are all things that we would strongly advise you to clarify before you're accepting a job because to be honest, quite often an to tell you, ok, next cycles. So this is what we're trying to do to um support locally employed doctors. Currently, we're auditing because we need to actually know the number of L EDS in England. And we also need to know what L EDS are actually being asked to do. For instance, are L EDS being asked to do work that actually reflects their skill level or are they being deskilled because they're being asked to do more junior work. We want to improve the contracts available to L EDS. Now, some led contracts are very good and some are not good. But that's where the audit comes in because we need to know the different terms and conditions that people are on. So we can try to get a uniform or as close to a uniform minimum standard across the whole country. We want to move doctors from temporary to permanent contracts because we do not think it's appropriate. Anyone should be in insecure work. And what is very common is trust will normally employ people for less than on a fixed term contract of less than two years to try to avoid them gaining all of the statutory employment rights that they would gain. After two years. We are strongly encouraging trusts and other employers to use the new specialty doctor contract, which is itself a national contract that we are hoping to modify in the future and improve your overall pay scale on. And we hope that by doing this, we will increase BM membership and the individual support this really key, really, really important for us to stress, we want to increase the membership and the individual support we give him before we finish this campaign so we can support as many led doctors as possible. The last part of this is getting led representatives on what's here called an LNC. That's a local negotiating committee. Now, an LNC is the collective or BM body at each trust but is responsible for negotiating with the trust on terms and conditions and policies that affect doctors who are employed by that trust. And it will normally have junior doctors on it. SAS doctors on it, consultants on it and it will be supported by a BMA staff member. Now, what we have found is that a lot of these bodies don't actually have an led representative on it and that is something that we are trying to rectify as soon as possible because led doctors need to have their voice heard. So we have put together a checklist for led doctors to use. If you think there's a chance that you're going to be an led doctor, even if you think it's actually most likely you're going to be on one of the national contracts. We would strongly advise that you use this. The link is here. If you want any more information about it, please do get in touch with us. You can just go on the link, you can download it. It's very accessible and straight forward and we've had positive feedback from the led doctors who have used it. So these are the pay up lists we have now in 2023 as a result of the National Industrial Action from different BM members, the doctors and dentists Review Body, which is what is here referred to as the DDRB recommended a 6% pay up lift for all doctors within its remit. And it explicitly stated that this includes locally employed doctors. We thought this was a significant win because there is always a danger that locally employed doctors will be forgotten about and left behind. Now we have had it where some employers have not clocked this and they have told led doctors. So I keep that Taoist, they have told L EDS that they are not included in it. This is categorically wrong if you are in this situation, get in touch with us so we can correct the trust this pay award has now come in this presentation um or this slide rather was made before the pay award has come into effect, but it has now been issued and it has been backdated to April 2023. So if you were working in the NHS between April 2023 and October 2023 then you will have or you should have at least received a back pay award that was consummate to the amount of time you already spent in the NHS. We have a template letter that we can provide for doctors to send if they wish to raise us like a trust where all you really have to do is put whom you're addressing the letter to and your name at the bottom of it. We've already written the rest of it and it's then very important for us to stress that this pay uplift was the same as the other grade as other grades received. So L EDS did not lose out in comparison to other doctors. Ok, next slide, please. So this is what I'm going to hand over to my colleague Claire and she's going to start with a fun quiz. Oh, thanks Alex out the word fun quiz. Um um Dan, could you um put the next slide on, please? Ok. So I don't think we'll do an interactive quiz because I'm aware that some of you will be watching this as a, as a recording, but this just gives you a flavor of some of the scenarios that we do come across um when we're advising and supporting members. And I think it will also um give you sort of an idea of what type of um issues members do face, whether you're um an international medical graduate or um um uh A UK um um graduate that, you know, the, the NHS is a large employer and errors do happen. The key is that you are aware of them and that you know, what to do should anything arise? And um um I put the email address in the chat bar. I've got the number slightly wrong, but I'll correct that in a minute. So, in, in scenario one, if you're paid too much, um, can your employer just take the money back? The answer is no, it is an overpayment. So you don't have a right to actually keep the money unless you've received it. You've checked with the employer on several occasions. Is this correct? Is this, um, mine to, is this payment correct? And the employer has said yes, then you could argue that you spent the money in good faith and um the employer can't make you pay it. But however, in the majority of situations, the employer is legally entitled to claim the money back. However, they should be writing to you or emailing you in advance to say about this. And also if they've taken out, take, if they overpaid you over several months, they, um, you can have the right to repay it back over several months by the same period as you were overpaid if it's gonna cause you severe financial hardship because obviously, um not everyone checks their payslips. And this is why Alex was saying about the importance of um, obviously getting a payslip, but also checking it that it is correct. And it's, is what you would, what you would be expecting um is to um um not spend the money and then either alert the employer or if, if it comes as a as a shock, then agree um longer installments to repay the money. But it, it, it does cause a lot of problems um overpayments due to the rotational of um doctors and particularly when you're training, you um move from employer to employer and lots of times um hr don't tell payroll that doctor. So and so has now left and that doctor has continued being paid. And if you, you're busy and you don't check your pay slips and you don't always check your bank account. It can be a nasty shock when you get a, a bill and also it has um, impact for your tax and everything. Um It works out in the end. It's just af so always be on top of it if you, um, can, if you, um um number two question, if your contract is for one year, can your employer just end it early? This um, if you've had a one year contract with, with an employer, um, the, the general answer is no, unless there is a notice clause in there and there is a proper process followed to end that um, contract early. And if that does happen, if your contract is one year and you're being told it's coming to an end earlier than you had expected, come, come to us and we will help you because often we can help you do an appeal and challenge it or potentially look at any disc discrimination claim. We want to make sure that our members are treated fairly again in regard to. Um, number three, if your employer has concerns about their work, about your work, can they just dismiss you the answer again? And you'll be relieved to, to know this is, they can't just, unless you've done something that would warrant, um, summary, um, um, dismissal and those situations are rare. It tends to be if, um, um, there's been a huge argument and there's been a fight or there's been very, um you know, um very um open fraud. They, it's very rare for someone to be um dismissed. Um Instantly there always has to be a proper process and asked to a meeting and then um given the right to be um accompanied and then an appeal. So if an employer has got concerned about your work, they should be informing you first of all about the concerns. And so that you are aware because often, you know, you, you start work and you're just carrying on, you're busy and you may not realize that there's some concerns about whether it's your conduct, which you, you're doing it in inadvertently or if there's um capability concerns and you should have the opportunity to um to learn, have some, maybe some refresher training. And then, you know, if, if there's still no improvement be um go through a disciplinary proce process, but you have to show that, you know, um targets to improve et cetera. And again, if any, you do find yourself in a situation, please do contact us and contact us as early as you can because we'd rather sort it out for you earlier on rather than later when we have to scramble around trying to um getting you um um support for the disciplinary meeting. And without due preparation, if if you do contact us late, we will try hard to get the hearing postponed or the formal process postponed. But the more notice you give us the better support and that we can give you. Um So just we, and again, we can only help you if you are members, if you contact us and say I've been asked to go to a hearing and you're not a member and you say I want to join, we can't help you because it predates and we don't want to be in that situation. So, um this is one of the benefits of being in a trade union. Um Number five, if you work extra hours above your job plan, rota or your work schedule, um job plans are applicable to consultants and ss doctors in that, that they agree. Um Generally every year they have a job plan review and they agree their timetable and what they will be doing for that year and, and the payment for that um work and, and your um rota and work schedule are more if you're a doctor in training a trust grade or a locally employed doctor. And if you're working above um, the hours that are in your rota, then there are things that you can do about it. If you're a consultant, you can ask for a job plan review and talk to your manager about um bringing your hours down or paying you accordingly. And if you don't get agreement, then there's a right to mediation, job plan, mediation and job plan appeal. Um Both aspects we will help you and we will um um represent you at any appeal. If you've got any work schedule issues and you're being um and what your working doesn't in reality represent the work schedule, then you can ask for a work schedule review and we will help you through that process. And indeed, if you wanted to um exception report ie um claim for the additional hours that you've been working above your work schedule, we can help you um if you hit any buffers in, in that process. So there are avenues that you can use. So please just don't accept working all those extra hours without any recognition or recompense. Number six is about um bullying. Um And what you can do about it. Unfortunately, the NHS big employer, it has its flaws and unfortunately, poor behavior and poor conduct does happen. The key is that to be aware and if you feel that you're being bullied, you're being for example, criticized in front of other people by your senior. Then um we can talk to you about what you can do about it. You can either, you know, in those scenarios, say, for example, um your consultant has um been very critical of what you've been doing in front of other colleagues and undermined you. You, we can um um advise you whether, you know, you feel able to speak to that consultant and tell them how the way they spoke made you feel or, you know, if you wanted to raise it more formally, we would help you through that process. So every single trust has a bullying and harassment policy and um we would advise you through that process and offer you support as you go through that so that you're not alone, it can be very isolating if you think that you're the only one that is, is suffering when in reality you're not. But the way um bullying um works is that often you can feel like that. So we will help you through that process. Also, if you've got any concerns about your work or training or you think patient safety is being compromised, there are people that you can talk to and raise your concerns. Um It's um um yeah, protection as a as a um um a whistleblower. If you sort of, if you then find that you're suffering detriments for having raised those concerns, every single NHS trust will have at least one freedom to speak up guardian and they are somebody they they can be a consultant, they can be a nurse. It's somebody who's been trained in, um, assisting, um, staff in raising concerns and it can be on patient safety. It can be about long hours and the impact on, on the team, it could be a lot about a, a lot of things and, um, it's always good to contact the freedom to speak up guardian because they may have ideas that you wouldn't even thought about and sometimes they can um advocate for you. Um, if you do get to the point though, the way you do feel that you have to make a formal um raising concern again, come to us and we will help you through that process. We have access to all the trust policies on raising concerns and we will help you draft your statement and um follow that through. And if there is any um uh legal claim, if you have suffered the detriment at work, we have um um uh um a legal panel, three firms who we use for our legal work. So you're very much not on your own. So I hope you um these type of questions, just give you a whistle stop. Um um idea of what potential problems there can be at work and it's not intended to put you off working for the NHS. It's just that in reality, you know, very few members do encounter problems, but it's just about knowing what to do. And where to go. Should you have any um problems at work? And so next I please um we are um as um Alex said, we value um and, and want to support and improve the working conditions for um international med medical graduates. We, you know, you are the bedrock of the N HSI think the NHS could not survive without um um Im GS. And so we have offered, we've got a lot of support now for um Im Gs in terms of both our position as a trade union, a powerful trade union as well, but also as a professional association, we represent um you on a professional level with the Department of Education, the Department of Health and you know, to the government and, and on lobbying. So we will try very hard to improve um your, your position with within the NHS. Um And so that you don't suffer any detriments, we also offer support for um refugee doctors in the UK. So again, anything, any advice and support just come to us and we will, we will, if we can't help you ourselves, we will point you in the right direction depending on the, obviously the questions they've got to ask. So um next slide please, Dan. Ok. It's just so um hopefully that you can um read um what we've got on our page. We've got a special page, um a dedicated page to I um Im GS and um you know about your contracts, what type of contract you could be um, offered. We also have um im an immigration and visa support um, service. Um You have to be qualified to give that advice. So we have a, a small team in our head office, but we also have um an immigration solicitors, um who also provide specialist advice and we will fund um if you're a member of the BMA for you to use and get advice from that company. If um, the team in, in the specialty department are unable to answer the question that you've got, we've also got um, a toolkit on practical things about working in, in the UK, um bank accounts. Um You know, the NHS, you know, you do have to have a bank account to be obviously, um paid, they don't pay you in cash. So that's um important to have and you obviously need that before. Um, you start working because you don't want to be working without pay, you'll get it off back paid. But it's a, um, you know, you've got to um, pay for accommodation, et cetera. So you need to make sure that you've got all the right um, tools before you start working um in the UK and also what you are going to need and how to register with a GMC, how to get um, your um, disclosure barring so that you're checked, you're cleared you for um safeguarding. It's also a very good page on your first few weeks working, um, in the NHS. Um, as I sure you've picked up, there's a lot of, um, um, um, initials and, you know, you may not know what those, those are. You know, this page will tell you what they are and you think. Oh, yes, that's it. And within a few weeks you'll be talking the same and everything in initials. Um, and that's, um, how the NHS does tend to be. We've also got, um, advice on, um, ethics. If you need, um, pensions advice, we have a specialist pensions department. Um, the N as a um, uh, an aside that when you um, join the NHS, you're automatically enrolled into the NHS pension scheme. So if you don't want to be um, um, part of the pension scheme, you need to, you need to opt out and expressly opt out. But I would say if you are thinking about not um, joining the pension scheme, get advice on that because it's, it, it's still a very good, um, pension scheme. So, you know, you get some financial advice if you're um unsure as to, you know, whether to stay in the, whether to join the pension um scheme. We've also got a very good library use it. You know, we want as many people as we can to use that. It's all, all online and um can help you with your, um, studies. Um, and it, uh, it is all part of your membership we've also got um webinars specifically tailored um for you. Uh I think um Mohammed you asked about um they help in getting your 1st and 2nd job. We don't actually find you positions, but we can give you um interview skills, how to prepare your um prepare your applications, et cetera. So this is a very good um the source as to where to go to, please. 10 I inductions, inductions are an invaluable tool and even more so even for an, an, an, an, an invaluable start for any doctor whenever you rotate and move to a new NHS employer, although it's still the NHS, every single trust is different. So you will have an induction every time you do start with a new um employer. Um If you're starting your first um fy one job, the induction can be a couple of days or um if it's um you're a higher um trainee or a trust grade, it tends to be um half a day or a day. But, and you are, it's part of your job. So an employer should not ask you to come in early on a day and expect and not pay you for attending that induction, it's work. And so if an employer is saying, oh, just pop in and come in for half an a uh come in for an afternoon, you should be paid and any issues contact us because we want to know about it because trust should not be doing that. Um And in, in addition to the um trust inductions, there's also um international um I MG inductions um specifically, and these are um an important tool and I'll definitely advise you to go onto the um link on the page here and, and make your um use of it because it, it's been written by um doctor um ra who professor Ra, I beg your pardon, who is an eminent um doctor in the N HSI? Think she was an al also an I MG. And this has been taken from her own experiences and lots of other IM GS as about how improving um um your pathway into the NHS and making sure that um you get out of it, what you want in terms of your, your career. So it's a really good um uh resource and signposting right next lie, please done. I have um briefly touched upon this but we um you know, if you'll, you'll come to the UK and you'll, you'll have a visa and whilst we will, I mean, it's up, it's up to your, obviously the responsibility of your employer to sort out the visa and do all the admin with the um home office. But we um do do lots of lobbying, as I said before to change the immigration policy so that it is fit for purpose and works, works for um you um coming in, coming into work in the UK. And again, we offer a free immigration service for um immigration advice service for BMA members. So if you're ever unsure, contact the support at bm.org dot UK and the team will put you in touch with the specialist department who if they can't give you that advice will then refer to um the um immigration lawyers. So, you know, we we will always give you the best and up to date advice that there is and that's all part of your membership. So, you know, it is a pretty good um a comprehensive um support service we do provide for um I MG doctors. Ok. Next light, please. Next slide is we have a BMA free regional network. Now, the NHS in England, there are seven NHS regions. Um D not Dan. Well, the band Alex and I, well, um we do, well, Alex covers a bit of um the Southeast region but um Dan and I are in the London region. So there's a NHS, London, there's an NHS Southeast, there's an NHS um Southwest and all, all around the country. There's seven of them and we have a BNA Free Re um it's called BNA Free Regional Network and it is free to join if you remember. But it is um for um any I MG doctor who um identifies as an ethnic minority. And um we have um the regional network which, which is good because it doesn't become too big. You can talk about issues within that region. You know, other, other um um participants may have got experience of working with one particular trust, any issues that are coming up from the network, we can take it up um for you. Um And it can also lead to some lobbying. So it's, you know, for lots of reasons, it's a really good network to join. So if you did want to join um any um um of, of the free network, so I'll just put my email um at the end and then you can send me an email and we'll put you in touch with the um relevant colleague who covers that um network. But that is definitely something that could be helpful to you. Next lab, please. Oh, II think of him actually covered that. But um yeah, it is all um virtual. And again, um please do um think about joining that when you, when you come to, to the UK. Is that easier? Now, I was yesterday thinking that we could take this out because, you know, um or, or just give you an update of what's going on with all the um industrial action. But you may have seen the, the n the news um from um that the junior doctors committee have announced um uh another series of um strikes. And um because the we've been in, they've been the, the committee have been in contact in negotiations with the government on, in um getting full pay restoration and the offer the government has made, has, isn't acceptable. So the next step is to start taking industrial action and, um, there's a series of nine days of, um, industrial action coming up December and in January. So if you are happening to, if you are in the UK, now, then this could, um, impact on you if you're not in the UK yet, just keep an eye on the news. And hopefully by the time you start, there will be some improvements, but at least, you know, it could be helpful if you say, for example, um you know, asked about it, interview or asked about the state of the NHS or anything that you could, you know, use that. So just keep an eye on the, I mean, I, I'm not advocating any particular news channel but I II, we always think of the BBC but, you know, and also keep an eye on us on Twitter, on X for any um, updates as well. So it is an unsettling time in the NHS. Um And um we, we are doing our best to try and improve um your, um, your pay. Um So that's, and hopefully, you know, by the time you start there will have been some improvements. So essentially the disputes. Um they, they're covering both the covering, not both, they covering the consultants, the SS doctors and the junior doctors. Um And we've been in dispute with the government since the beginning of the year. Um And we've taken industrial action for the Juniors and the consultants and joint industrial action with um the consultants and the um um juniors, the SS doctors are currently um balloting which means that um that, you know, with a view to taking industrial action and um you know, that could be happening. So, um again, watch this space. So I'm just gonna do a quick cover of um what's happening and if you're actually working in the UK now and you're on a visa, um the implications for you. Um, next eye, please, right? Ok. So as, um, this says, well, as of yesterday, we were, the Junior Doctors Committee were in talks with the government about, um, getting a fair, um, pay offer that sadly, um, concluded yesterday. And today, um, um, the Junior O Committee, they voted to not to accept that offer that was made and instead to carry on with industrial action and that, sadly, left them led to the nine days of talks. We are hoping that now the dates have been released. It gives the, the government opportunity to come back to the table and discuss. But no, at the moment, um, it's not, it's, it's, we haven't got any further dates and therefore we are in the process of um, getting ready to, to start the industrial action and the industrial action is, um, is strike. And that will mean that if a doctor doesn't go into work, they, um, because they're taking industrial action that they won't get paid. Um, and, and we are trying to organize, um, picket lines or regional pickets to show, um, the government and the public the strength of feeling. And if you're already working in the UK, you'll, you'll be aware of, of the various pickets that have gone. We've used the signature color of the orange, um, you know, um, with orange posters, orange hats and we've had several successful, um national demonstrations as well to show the government the strength of feeling. Um But unfortunately, it, um, what was offered wasn't deemed by the June and do committee to be acceptable to put to members. And therefore this is why there's the industrial action planned. So again, keep an eye on the new social media as to what's going on in terms of the consultants UK industrial um um, law requires um, a ballot to be um, every six months. So if um, a ballot is done in say January and um the, the majority vote for industrial action, that ballot is only, only lasts for six months and therefore we have to do um, um another ballot and otherwise the, any industrial action that's done without um, a ballot, um being, having a majority would be um, illegal and unlawful. And we, we as a trade union would no doubt that we will be fined and, and um subject to, to costly litigation. So we have to really make sure that um, all the eyes are crossed and um nothing goes wrong with the ballot. So the Junior Doctors ballot, we've um the ballot, you, your ballot is your mandate to take industrial action, I believe ends in February. So the industrial action that's done for now or um is um all legal and authorized. The consultants are balloting again on whether to, to, to um um take industrial action. But alongside that, there is a referendum because the government have offered um a pay deal to the consultants which um uh we haven't advised members to accept or not accept. It's up to the members to make their own decision. Um But to, there's a referendum on whether they're going to um to agree that or, or not that I think is coming out in the next, in the next week and then will be for a month and then we'll, we'll know um if the consultant one, it has been accepted, um the benefits of that um ballot or, or the offer is there was a 4.5% pay increase but, and not every single consultant will get that, but they um it depends on where you are on the pay scales. But at the moment, um it takes 19 years from when you start as a consultant to get to the top point of the consultant scale. And as part of the offer, there is a shortening of that um of the number of years. So there are. Um it's a bit more of a positive um um offer than the ones for the juniors and the doctors currently be balloting at the moment and with the ballot due to end on the 18th of December, and we're hoping that there will be a more than 50% response voting to take industrial action, which will give us a platform to go back to the government to try and reach um get a better um pay offer and it, and, and if not, um we have to take industrial action. So it's interesting times and it's keeping us busy. Um And, but it does show you that what, you know, the benefits of being in a union and the sort of the bargaining that, that this is we do all the, we do all the work for you to get your pay um improved. And um so if any of you um are in the working now and you're um not a, um you haven't got a training contract but you are a locally employed doctor or a trust doctor and you're thinking about taking industrial action. Um The broad answer is as long as you're, you're employed by the NHS and not say by a university or a private employer or um if you're in a public health, you may, you may be employed by a local authority. Is that um broadly, yes, you can take industrial action. Um But if you, um again, if you're not sure, send us in a copy of your contract of employment and we'll check that it is the contract because if you're, if you've got a contract that is similar to a junior doctor contract and the juniors are taking industrial action, then, then yes, you can take industrial action. If you've got a contract that, that's similar to an SAS doctor and they're taking action, then you can take industrial action. So if you're not sure, come to us and we will um help you next one. Please Dan again, um answering the same thing is that um yes, as long as you've got an NHS um employer, you can take industrial action. Um You do need though to consider, as I said before that if you take industrial action, it does mean that you're not paid for that day of that when you're taking the action and you need to consider the impact of any um deduction in your pay on your visa status. And um and again, come to us if you're unsure because we will definitely try um help you. Generally, we haven't come across any issues of I MG doctors um having problems with their visas and taking industrial action, but always best to err on the side of caution and contact us. Oh, thanks Dan. You beat me to it. Um Again, um there's some important um information about um taking that industrial action and it, it is um it, it won't affect your sponsorship if you do take um industrial action. But again, please do contact us if you, if you are unsure and we are, we are hoping that it's not gonna um the government will come to the table. So um now that they know we truly do mean business, but again, again, come, come to us if you are unsure. And again, all down the next two slides, they're about um your visa status. So um unless anyone's got any questions, I was gonna skip over them. But again, any, any anyone who's unsure about their visa status and is thinking about taking industrial action, please do contact us or if you're on a tier five visa, we can't give you any individual advice, but again, do try and contact us. Ok? Again, this is um so I jump ahead for everything but I think I've covered broadly everything. I think these are a bit of an out of date um dates. But II think it does show, show you as well, particularly for the consultants that, you know, by taking industrial action. We have got an improvement on the pay offer. Um The the um your consultants pay was increased by 6% in April and that was a part of the um cost of living increase across the board for um for medical staff, there was a bit more for junior doctors as well. But in terms of that, that since the industrial action um has taken place in the summer. The government has come back with um a further pay offer. You know, it, it's not automatically corresponding to 4.594 0.95%. However, there is definitely um improvements in, in payments. So it does show you the value of having that pay campaign. Um It shouldn't always lead to, to strike action. It should be more about raising awareness, um empowering yourselves to take action by having the strike um mandate. So you'll, you'll be joining the NHS at uh probably exciting times and, and definitely do try and um when you start in the NHS, try and um engage with your colleagues, find out more what they know about um the industrial action. Um So that, and, and again, um we will be coming to, to trust and you can always ask us um on and we doing lots of um webinars and things all down next slide, please. Again, the SAS Doctor campaign, this is um ES Doctors. They were the last of the three main groups to, to do their um pay campaign. So we haven't quite with the ballots still ongoing and um we'll know it ends on the 18th. It more or less comes back quickly. And if the ballot is that the majority have voted for industrial action, then it'll be back to the talks of the government. And if nothing, they're not willing to budge and make a fair offer, then it will be industrial action for them. And I think last slide or is that in the other nations as well in Scotland, Ireland and Wales, it's not, um there is industrial action as well um that, you know, everyone's, I think people are knowing their worth and with the cost of living that the um even the consultants pay is not as, you know, it's hasn't gone up in line with inflation as it should have. And it's about not accepting um poor pay and, you know, using our bargaining power as, as a union to get improvement. So again, watch this space and we definitely have been busy um this year um with all the pay campaigns, but ultimately, it is for your benefit. So whether you're working now or coming to the UK, hopefully you will be part of that group to um to benefit. And I think now I'm going on to, oh, I um I'm gonna skip that 100, beg your pardon though. Whatsapp groups is um again, when you start at a trust, join a, join a whatsapp group um on the BNA Pay campaign, it's a great way to um link in with people. And often when you work in a trust, often if they're large, you know, you don't come across um a junior doctor colleague um in another specialty every day. But it's a great way of um making you feel that you're not alone. You are there as a group. So, um yeah, whatsapp groups are, are, are good. I think that's the end, end of um, I whistle stop the tour. Um Thanks Claire. Um, so thanks everybody for listening. Um I'll just wrap it up. I know, I know it's already gone. Um, six. But yeah, I just wanted to talk a little bit about sort of, uh, some of, some of the stuff we've touched on to be honest. But, yeah, the benefits of, of being with the BMA. Um whether you're already here or, or considering coming to, to the UK. Um Yeah, Alex touched on this quite a bit but we have, we have um people um like ourselves um who are, who are, who are dedicated to supporting um doctors in the UK. At the moment, we've got 100 and 92,000 members um in the UK. So that ii if you remember, it's the, it's the trade union just for doc um and med students. So it's, it's a, it's an incredibly high number and most doctors. Uh and, and you are members of, of the BMA now, um last year, apologies. Um Last year we, we had um over 100 and 55,000 individual employment related questions. So that's nearly 11 per person. Um And 70% of those we were able to deal with on the initial um NHS can be quite difficult um in terms of uh getting the immediate help you need straight away away from, from hr, or what not. So, um, coming to us as sort of a way of bypassing that we can usually get the answers, um, to quite quickly. Um, yeah, we deal with a lot of, uh, cases of immigration as well as, as Claire alluded to. Um, so, yeah, last year we dealt with 699 of them. Um, and these are sort of some of the, the similar th er, the familiar things that, that we deal with. Um, we're specialists in contract checking. Um Alex spoke about the contract checking, er, earlier. Um, but yeah, it's, it's worth um just highlighting this, er, this figure that we've got here, one in four of the contracts that we checked last year didn't comply um with the national model. Um, we, as the, as the trade union negotiate, er, the contracts in the UK um for, for doctors. Um, so we know what should be in them. Um, you can get them checked by us, check your contract, uh, buyers for free every time you receive a contract and uh if there are any issues we can, we can take it up. Um I think it was mentioned that if it's, if it's signed, um, it's a bit more difficult but we still can help cos you were given a contract that was wrong in the first place. You didn't know that. But it is easier for us if you haven't signed. Yeah. So get into the rhythm of whenever you get a contract, send it to us to check first. Um, and, and we can take it up if there's, if there's any issues. Um, we spoke about these road checking tools so that's, you can check your r by putting into our online, um, road checking, um, app job planning to. So we've got doctors diary up. So that's great for, for recording job planning. Um We've got lots of handbooks on the website and, and we've got a pay slip checker as well. Um B MJ learning. Um I'm sure everyone knows the B MJ. Uh it's, it's, it's comes under the monarch of, of the BM ABA British Medical Journal um is part of part of the BMA. So everything B MJ based or most, most things B MJ based cuff as part of membership. Um B MJ learning is brilliant for just doing your own learning and, and picking up um CPD points that you, you, you're required to, to get. Um And yeah, here's a few of the popular topics that we've that we've got um on online, on, on our modules. Um We have a great wellbeing service as well. So this is open 24 7 to everybody. So, um the unique thing about this service is um not only is it free to everybody regardless of whether you remember or not. Um But it's also uh it also has you also have the choice of speaking to a peer support doctor, um, and not just a counselor. So someone who's, who's been through sort of similar situations, um, to yourself. Um, I mentioned this at the start. I'm not sure if everybody's here but if you're in the UK and you're not already a BMA um member and, uh, you and you never have been before. Um, and you've been, you've started sort of within the past 12 months. So you get your first year membership free. Um, we've never done this before. This is only something that we started up, um, a couple of months ago. So if, if this criteria applies to, you definitely take up the, the chance of, of getting free membership for a year of the BMA. Um, like I said, most doctors in the UK are, are members already. Um, and yeah, the um uh this, this is the only group where we're offering something um, for free. Everyone obviously has to pay monthly. Um, so yeah, just make sure that you choose the correct concession. Um, er, when you go through, um, you'll need your GMC number um, to, to apply as well. Um, so yeah, so anybody who's new to the UK, um or, or you're coming to the UK soon, you have your GMC number already. Um, you'll get three years membership free if you, that QR code also put the link in the chat um, earlier. So things do now if if that's relative to, to, to where you are in terms of, of, of being here. Um Definitely join, this is the biggest time for, for us as a union. Um And the more members we have the, the stronger everybody is together. Um Check out our, our website, we've got try out some of the webinars that we've got on there. Um get your contract checked if you've never had it checked before. Um, You know, it's not uncommon for us to get money back for, for doctors that have assumed their, their contracts are absolutely fine and, and never had them checked before. Um Yeah, keep all your details up to date. Sorry. As part of your membership, you'll get quite a few bits through the post from us, including the B MJ. So the journal itself um will come through to you every, every week as part of the membership. So you give subscriptions for that. Um We spoke at the start about um other defer other things like defense organizations. Um So mdu mps, um obviously, we sometimes get a bit of confusion around what they do and what we do, but they are, they are separate to, to us. Um but we re re recommend you, you have come from MD or MPS or, or one of the defense bodies um as well. And yeah, any, any issues, nonclinical um get in touch with us, that's what we're here for. Um And that's it. I don't know if we've got time for any questions, but that is the final slide. I think we've been answering them as, as we've been going along. I tried to Im on No, no, no, no. Thank you so much guys. I really appreciate the time that you took today to explain every little bit that an I MG has to know about this. Uh And if anybody has any questions, please feel free to email them. Uh Claire was really kind and she answered a lot of your questions and she's also left the email address. So definitely look into that and this uh session was recorded. So it's going to be made available on me all and then on youtube later on as well. So if you want to watch it later on, definitely you can. Thanks so much guys. Great. Thank you. Thanks for having us everybody. Thank you. Yeah, it was very enjoyable. I keep