Michael Connarty MP gains assurance on Free Accommodation for Junior Doctors

â€œWhen a Doctor is required to live in hospital accommodation, no charges should be made for accommodation providedâ€, stated the UK Health Minister in a written reply to West Lothian and East Falkirk MP Michael Connarty. I understand from the letter I received from the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Health that the same rules will also continue to apply in Scotland.

Michael said, “ Both replies confirmed that the practical consequences of changing service and training patterns meant that the legal requirement for all first year junior doctors to be resident had become outdated and that is why it was removed from the Medical Act. This does not, however, have the effect of removing junior doctors’ right to free accommodation. The statutory requirement to be resident has been removed from the Act, but the Junior Doctor’s Terms and Conditions of Service continue to provide that if a doctor is contractually required to live in hospital accommodation, then no charges should be made for the accommodation provided”.