Our priorities
The committee is working on a number of matters affecting SAS doctors in Scotland.
Read our guidance for new and existing members
New SAS contract
In March 2021, we have resumed discussions with the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland employers on SAS contract reform in Scotland.
Stay up to date on the contract negotiations
Improving the working lives of SAS doctors
SSASC progressed work with the Scottish Government and NHS Employers in Scotland as part of the Improving SAS Doctors’ Working Lives Group, set up to look at the attractiveness of the SAS grade in Scotland. The group explores how to ensure full implementation of the Scottish SAS Charter and all NHS boards in Scotland have been reminded of the need for compliance with the SAS Charter, with a focus on specific priority areas such as job planning and clinical coding. NHS boards were asked to ensure that by the end of 2019 they had processes in place to ensure that when SAS doctors have overall responsibility for patients, that this is accurately recorded under the name of the individual SAS doctor through clinical coding.
The focus has now moved to contract negotiations for Scottish SAS doctors.
SAS doctor training and development
The SAS professional development fund in Scotland provides funding to support SAS doctors in Scotland pursue development and education opportunities. It is overseen by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) - supported by an associate postgraduate dean - and has BMA SAS doctor representation on its programme board, whose function is to provide strategic overview and direction for the SAS development programme, and to act as a decision-making panel to prioritise applications to the fund. There is a network of regional educational advisers, all of whom are SAS doctors, as is the associate postgraduate dean.
SSASC continues to highlight the vast benefits of the fund to SAS doctors in Scotland.
Read more about the fund
Our people
Chair: Sine Steele
Deputy chair: Stuart Strachan
Ayrshire and Arran
Zeeshan Ahmed, Ruth Blackett
Borders
Lynne Prophet
Dumfries and Galloway
Betsy Jacob
Fife
vacant
Forth Valley
vacant, Gerrard O’Neill
Grampian
vacant
Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Catriona Forsyth
Morag Gorrie
Highland
Steven Ross
Lanarkshire
Geeta Ravurey
Lothian
Louise Rennie
Geeta Ravurey
Tayside
Sine Steele
NHS special health board or island health board
Jayne Hughes
One member appointed by the British Dental Association
John Ho-a-yun
One member elected to the SAS seat on Scottish council (unless already a voting member of SSASC in another capacity)
Bernie Scott
Non-voting members
Scottish council chair: Iain Kennedy
SAS doctors committee (UK) chair ex officio: Ujjwala Mohite
Scottish consultants committee chair (or nominee): TBC
Scottish resident doctors committee nominee: TBC
Those members, resident in Scotland, appointed by the BMA representative body to the UK SASC, unless already a member of the committee in another capacity.
Co-opted members: TBC
Secretariat
Head of NNR, David Prince
Senior policy advisor: Janette Moran
Committee policy executive: Fiona Dawson
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Our meetings
SSASC meets four times a year to discuss the latest issues affecting SAS doctors in Scotland. These meetings are open to members of the Scotland SAS committee only, but non-voting BMA members can come along and participate as part of the BMA committee visitors scheme.
Meeting dates:
- Tuesday 8 October 2024 (Hybrid) – 10:30am to 3:30pm
- Tuesday 28 January 2025 (virtual) – 10:00am to 1:00pm
- Tuesday 29 April 2025 (virtual) – 2:00pm to 4:30pm
- Tuesday 10 June 2025 (hybrid) – 10:30am to 3:30pm
Meetings are currently held virtually or at,
BMA Scotland
14 Queen Street
Edinburgh
EH2 1LL
How to join
There are many advantages to becoming involved in our committees. You can actively influence BMA policy-making and negotiations, represent your colleagues' voices and develop your leadership skills.
Each committee has a few routes to becoming an elected member. In the case of SSASC, these are:
- Seats/term - every year, LNCs elect 14 representatives for a one-session term. Seats are distributed evenly between boards based on the number of SAS doctors employed in the board area. Where no nominations are received via this route, direct elections will be held.
Contact your local negotiating committee
- Seats/term - every year, elections for two seats on SSASC take place for a one-session term.
- Timeline - elections are usually held in July or August.
- Eligibility - all SAS doctors who are BMA members and working in an NHS special health board or an island health board, are eligible to stand and vote in this election.
The election section below is kept up to date with details about any running elections, so make sure you keep checking it throughout the year.
Elections
There are currently a number of vacancies within the Scottish SAS committee for Fife, Forth Valley, Grampian, Highland and Lanarkshire.
If you are a SAS doctor in any of these regions and would like to get involved in the work of this committee please contact Fiona Dawson at [email protected].
For updates on the current SAS contract negotiations visit SAS contract negotiations and to read the SSASC chair’s blog on the BMA Scotland page.
Get in touch
If you are interested in finding out more about the work of the SSASC, email us.
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