High Court hears test case on ability of junior doctors to take breaks

The High Court is this week hearing a test case on whether a NHS trust which employed 20 junior doctors in their first years as doctors in training breached their contracts of employment when monitoring their ability to take breaks required throughout the working day.

In Hallett v Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust the claimant, Dr Sarah Hallett, who is the representative of the 20 doctors, is not asking for any payment of monies that she believes are due to her but is purely asking the court to make a total of 20 declarations that would clarify the law surrounding the issue.

The BMA, which is supporting the claim, said the case “could have significant consequences for some junior doctors who may not have been treated fairly in accordance with their employing trust’s contractual obligations – having serious consequences for their well-being and patient safety”.

It added that a ruling in Dr Hallett’s favour “could also mean that other junior doctors are able to pursue claims for underpayments to their salary where their employer is found to have reached an incorrect banding decision as a result of the incorrect application of monitoring software. The case is relevant to junior doctors employed on the 2002 terms and conditions of service.”

The BMA said it believed breaches were commonplace “owing to widespread use and incorrect application of monitoring software resulting in trusts failing to apply the protections provided to doctors in their contracts of employment”.

The High Court was due to hear the case over four days.