Rota Design for 2009 - North Western Deanery

Trust WTD policiesThere are many areas in the interpretation of WTD rulesthat have not yet been tested legally, for examplearound the provision of compensatory rest. Manyorganisations have therefore agreed trust policiesaround junior doctors’ hours, monitoring, New Deal andWTD. The following areas may be included:●●A trust may require staff to monitor their workinghours twice a year in response to the request of theHR department (not just junior doctors in training)Clarity around the trust’s position on compensatoryrest including whether this should be taken in paidor unpaid time.An example of such a policy has been included inAppendix C. This is by no means exhaustive nor does itcover all possible interpretations, it merely offers anexample of one view point. Trusts are advised to seektheir own legal advice.Natural break policyWhere organisations have struggled to ensure naturalbreaks are taken by all junior doctors they haveimplemented policies to highlight the joint responsibilityin achieving this. This can reassure the juniors that trustsdo expect them to be able to take their breaks at alltimes unless they are involved in a life threateningscenario. Equally it can raise awareness amongst nursingstaff who can then manage elective and emergencyworkload around the need for juniors to take breaks.An example of such a policy is attached in Appendix D.Approval to change bandproformaWhen implementing changes to any junior doctorsworking patterns that result in a change in pay band,it’s a requirement to complete the ‘approval to changeband’ process and proforma. This document was agreedbetween the DH and the BMA in April 2002. Theagreement to document these stages in the form of theofficial proforma resulted from great variation inapproach across the country.The completion of this proforma and carefuldocumentation of each stage is critical. If a trust ischallenged on the pay band of a rota and they do notpossess this documentation to prove the pay band, theyare left in a difficult position at banding appeal and willinevitably lose irrespective of any other worthyarguments they may wish to debate.As such NHS North West have devised a series oftemplates and local version of the ‘approval to changeband’ proforma to provide consistency in approach anddocumentation across the patch and ensure all requiredwritten documentation has been captured. In thefollowing pages the national proforma and copies ofthe NHS North West templates have been provided asan example of good practice.20