Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed new junior doctors' contract on reducing rota gaps.

The new contract is part of the solution to rota gaps. It contains protections that mean that safe working hours will be enforced and light will be shone on rota gaps by the Guardian of Safe Working Hours reporting to the Board of each trust. Where action is not taken, this will be escalated to the Care Quality Commission, the General Medical Council and Health Education England. These protections simply do not exist in the current contract. In terms of covering rota gaps, no junior doctor can be asked to work more than an average of 48 hours a week and cannot work more than an average of 56 hours a week if they opt out from the Working Time Directive. The new contract rules for instance on rest periods and consecutive night shifts also apply to any additional work done.