NHS Wales Consultant Contract Appeals Process

NHS Wales Consultant Contract Appeals Process

STATEMENTS OF CASE GUIDANCE

Introduction

The following is guidance for parties in an appeals case that requires a hearing under the all-Wales Consultant Contract appeals procedure. The aim is to guide parties in the type of information that is required and the way that this should be presented. This will enable the case to be set out efficiently and in a standard format that will enable the Appeals Panel members and the parties to understand the key issues in advance and to prepare for the hearing.

The parties will be:

The Consultant and their representative;

The Employer’s representatives.

The Appeals Panel members will be 2 people drawn from the all-Wales Appeals Panel pool – one from the BMA part of the pool and one from the service part of the pool. One of these acts as Chair for administrative purposes.

Statements of case will be sent to the Appeals Panel members, and exchanged between the parties at least 14 days prior to the hearing. Any supporting documentation which either party intends to refer to should be included with the statement (ideally as part of a single ‘bundle’ jointly agreed between the parties). Only in exceptional circumstances would additional documents would be accepted by the Panel at the hearing. One party would not receive the other party’s documents until they have submitted their own.

The detailed mechanics for swapping statements and documents, as well as for making the practical arrangements for the date, venue etc, will be managed by the local servicing department (often the relevant HR/Personnel Office) under the direction of the Appeals Panel member who is to act as the Chair.

N.B. All Appeals Panel members will have their own set of the standard key documents listed at Appendix 1, so these documents need not be included in the ‘bundle’ of documents, and can be cross-referred by the parties both in their statements of case and at the actual hearing.

Statement of Case

This should comprise basic background information, a succinct summary of the issue in contention and what it is the party is seeking from the hearing, followed by a brief supporting statement setting out and referring to the relevant supporting evidence for the case.

The background information should normally include:-

Name and title of the Consultant;

Their job, base and employing organisation;

Their contracted basic weekly hours of work;

The number of Consultant colleagues in their clinical team/specialty;

Any particular relevant features of the Consultant’s role (e.g. different sites/organisations covered, special interests, additional clinical or non-clinical responsibilities etc);

Any particular relevant features of the department/hospital/service/Trust (e.g. academic department, community-based service, services provided to other Trusts etc).

The succinct summary should identify:-

Which aspect(s) of the job plan are in contention;

That parties’ view of what this should state;

The particular reference in the agreement or the supporting guidance the party is basing its case on, and/or reference to the key evidence on which the party is basing their case; and, if not clear from the above,

What the party is seeking from the appeal hearing.

The brief supporting statement should normally cover:-

A brief explanation of the main points in the party’s argument to support their case. This should be sufficient for Appeals Panel members, who will be intelligent and experienced individuals from within the service in Wales and are familiar with the agreement and the guidance, but who must be assumed to be unaware of the specific circumstances of the Consultant’s particular service in their particular patch and of any particular factors that affect this locally. The explanation will quote or refer to the key documents or supporting evidence (the ‘bundle’of documents) that is included with the statement of case, or is included in the documents listed at Appendix 1.

The purpose of the statement of case is to enable those at the hearing to have gained a basic understanding of the issue(s) in contention, and of the arguments and circumstances relevant to this in advance of the hearing. It should not include arguments, issues, documentation or evidence that is not relevant to this, or does not contribute to understanding the case, and should be kept as short as is necessary.

It will also be helpful to the Appeals Panel members if one or both parties can include a brief summary of the ‘history’ of the case and of attempts to resolve the matter informally, i.e. from when it first became apparent the job plan could not be agreed through to the Consultant formally lodging the appeal.

Appeals statements of case guidance final

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Appendix 1 List of Key Documents

1. The ‘Agreement’ – Amendment to the National Consultant Contract in Wales, dated 1st December 2003 - included in red and white cover WAG ‘glossy’ publication;

1. The ‘Joint Job Plan Guide’ – the BMA Wales/NHS Wales/Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) “NHS Wales Consultants Job Planning Guide”, dated December 2003 - included in red and white cover WAG ‘glossy’ publication;

1. The ‘Implementation Procedure’ – the “National Assembly for Wales Moving Forward with Consultants: Implementation Process for Trusts in NHS Wales”, dated January 2004 - included in red and white cover WAG ‘glossy’ publication;

1. The ‘BMA Guide’ – the BMA Wales Welsh Consultants and Specialists Committee “The New Welsh Consultant Contract Job Planning, The Working Week,On call and all that stuff, A Take You Through It Guide”, dated January 2004 - included in red and white cover WAG ‘glossy’ publication;

1. The ‘Proformas Guidance’ – the “NHS Wales Consultants Contract: Guidance on Job Plan Proformas” (including the 3 appendices), dated 26th March 2004, issued by the Pay Modernisation Team via Trust Project Managers – included in the Appeals Panel Training pack;

1. The Advice Compendium – the current version (dated as at 25th November 2004) of the Welsh Consultant Contract Reference Group guidance “Consultants Contract Advice Compendium: as at 25th November 2004”, issued by the Pay Modernisation Team via Trust Project Managers – included in the Appeals Panel Training pack;

1. The ‘Job Plan Appeals Procedure’ – the BMA Wales/WAG/NHS Wales “The Welsh Consultants Contract Job Planning Appeals” document, dated December 2004 issued by the Pay Modernisation Team via Trust Project Managers – included in the Appeals Panel Training pack.

N.B. All the above documents can be accessed via the Consultant Contract page on the Assembly’s Pay Modernisation website – the internet and HOWIS/intranet addresses are set out below – with the exception of the ‘BMA Guide’, for which there is a web page link only:-

Internet website: http//www.wales.nhs.uk/paymodernisation

HOWIS Intranet site: http://howis.wales.nhs.uk/paymodernisation

Appeals key documents list

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