The Consultant Charter has been developed to provide an overview of the standards you should expect your employers to meet and to help identify where they are falling short.

The charter will help both doctors and employers to recognise what good and bad employment practice for consultants looks like. It covers areas such as job planning; safe working patterns; flexible working; workplace environment; facilities and more. The charter also provides onward direction to additional detailed BMA guidance so that you understand exactly what provisions and protections are contained within the national consultant terms and conditions of service.

The aim of this charter is:

• To facilitate and provide support for the work of Local Negotiating Committees (LNCs)
• To recognise the expertise that consultants bring as senior leaders who have responsibilities for services and their development; teaching, educating the next generation; advancing research and innovation to improve patient outcomes, as well as direct clinical responsibilities.

It is not intended to be exhaustive but aims to provide a framework to enable consultants to feel empowered in their professional life.

Our vision for the Consultant Charter

Our vision of the Consultant Charter is for Local Negotiating Committees to use it like an audit toolkit to drive local improvements in the workplace. LNCs should work through the various sections of this charter on an ongoing basis and in the order that is of relevance locally - this could be because they tie into work that is already ongoing or because they are the areas that are in the most urgent need of addressing.

Working with LNC representatives

We are not seeking employers to ‘sign up’ to the charter but instead to commit to working through the sections with LNC representatives on an ongoing basis. LNCs should seek to work with employers to assess the Trust’s current adherence to the relevant charter sections by using the appendix items within this charter that correspond to these sections. 

Acknowledging employers who meet the Charter standards

We will publicly acknowledge local employers who achieve the standards of the Charter by providing them with a charter mark for the sections they meet. Charter marks will be accredited with the specific time they are acquired and can be reissued so long as the Trust continues to meet the standards set in the Charter.