Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to bring forward proposals to add junior doctors to the definition of worker in section 43K(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 and more recent legislation, forms part of the wider employment rights legislation.

Junior doctors are protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, as they are employees of the National Health Service trusts at which they are based.

The Department supports NHS staff who wish to raise concerns and is implementing a range of measures to support the development of a culture in which staff are able to raise concerns without fear of repercussion or reprisal. The Department has made clear to NHS organisations that they should have policies and procedures to support and encourage staff to raise concerns, and that those concerns should be considered and, where appropriate, acted upon.