Guidance for SAS transfer to 2021 contracts

The new contractual arrangements came into effect on 1 April 2021. The specialty doctor 2008 terms and conditions is closed to new entrants.

All new appointments to the SAS grades should be on the 2021 specialty doctor and specialist grade contracts.  

Doctors and dentists who were appointed to national SAS TCS prior to their closure, and who remain on those closed grades, have the option either to transfer to the 2021 TCS or to remain on their current TCS. 

The closed national SAS TCS are:

• specialty doctor/specialty dentist (2008)
• associate specialist (2008)
• associate specialist (prior to 2008)
• staff grade
• clinical medical/dental officer (CMO/CDO)
• senior clinical medical/dental officer (SCMO/SCDO)
• clinical assistant (part time medical/dental officer appointed under paragraph 94 or 105 of the 2002 TCS)
• hospital practitioner.   

These contractual arrangements and transitional provisions do not apply to doctors who are not on national contracts, such as locally employed doctors (LEDs). 

Locally employed doctors include, for instance, those in posts such as clinical fellow/research fellow and those appointed to posts mirroring old terms and conditions after those TCS were closed nationally, for example doctors appointed to associate specialist posts after 31 March 2008. 

Doctors employed on the 2008 specialty doctor grade or closed SAS grades in England have the right to transfer to the 2021 specialty doctor contract at any time.

There was a time limited window for SAS doctors to transfer to the 2021 TCS, at the point the new contracts were introduced, this is now offered on an indefinite basis.  

However, on 9 June 2022, the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) (SAS) agreed that doctors employed on the 2008 specialty doctor grade or closed SAS grades in England would be given the contractual right to transfer to the 2021 specialty doctor contract during any time in their employment. This process is detailed in Schedule 20 of the TCS.  

The following applies to both the specialty doctor and specialist TCS.  

Those that can transfer:

• SAS doctors employed before 1 April 2021 have the option of remaining on their current TCS or moving to the 2021 TCS.  

• Doctors on the 2008 specialty doctor grade (or equivalent closed SAS grades) may transfer to the 2021 specialty doctor contract.  

• Doctors on the 2008 associate specialist and pre-2008 associate specialist grades may transfer to the specialist grade contract, subject to meeting the entry criteria.  

• Doctors on local terms and conditions who wish to move to the 2021 contracts do not have an automatic right but may wish to discuss with their employer if they have been in post for 24 months or more.  

The flowchart below illustrates the contract transfer process as set out in Schedule 20 of the specialty doctor TCS. 

The process set out below provides an example of best practice of the contract transfer process.  

It is expected that the process detailed should take no longer than 35 working days although it is encouraged to be completed as soon as possible. If there is significant delay through no fault of the doctor in starting the new contract, the date of transfer should be backdated to the expected 35 days and should only be considered once the delayed process has been completed. 

However, this policy does not intend to replace local policies that may be more favourable. 

The specialty doctor will move to the corresponding pay point according to years’ experience because the pay scale codes on the MC46 and MC75 both reflect years of experience. This means for example, that if a doctor is currently on MC46-08, they will move to MC75-08. 

The doctor’s incremental date under the 2008 contract will become their fixed pay progression date under the 2021 contract. The individual pay journeys tables have been updated to show the pay journey and are included in Annex 1 of this guidance. 

Associate specialists moving to the specialist grade, who have a higher salary than the top of the scale, will be pay protected on a marked-time basis which will last until their salary on the new pay scale overtakes it.

The pay progression date is the anniversary of the date the doctor first commenced employment in the specialty doctor grade or, for those doctors who are appointed to these terms and conditions of service, from the existing national specialty doctor national contracts, their existing incremental date. Therefore, the financial year of the first pay progression meeting may vary depending on the month of the anniversary.  

Example 1, a specialty doctor transfers in October 2024, from pay code MC46-07 (2008 contract) to MC75-07 (2021 contract). They first joined the specialty doctor grade in February 2018 and their pay progression date remains the same as their existing increment date when moving to MC75-08 in February 2025 and MC75-09 in February 2026. The first pay progression review would be in 2026/27 when they progress to MC75-10 in February 2027. 

Example 1  

Example 2, for a specialty doctor transferring in October 2024 onto the same pay code MC75-07, but with an existing incremental date of May, falls within a new financial year. As such, their first pay progression review would be 2027/28.  

Example 2 

It is important that both the employer and SAS doctor are aware of this so that an informed decision is made when considering the timing of a transfer to new contract terms.  

Please note that doctors on national terms and conditions of service in the 2008 specialty doctor grade, staff grades clinical medical officers, senior clinical medical officers, hospital practitioners and clinical assistants may transfer to the 2021 speciality doctor contract. The annexed tables have provided the pay journey for doctors transferring from the 2008 specialty doctor grade to help inform both employers and SAS doctors what the SAS doctor’s salary would be on transfer. For doctors wishing to transfer from the other eligible closed grades noted here, their salary will be assessed as per the provisions of schedule 12, paragraphs 4-8, with previous substantive service in those grades or equivalent or higher grades counted towards their starting salary on the 2021 specialty doctor contract.   

The structure of pay and its progression is a crucial aspect of employee motivation and career development. The introduction of the 2021 contracts saw a new five pay-point structure to allow faster progression to the top of the specialty doctor pay scale.  

The pay structure for the specialist grade is made up of three pay points. It will take a specialist grade a minimum of six years to reach the top of the pay scale. 

The clinical/medical director will have the overall responsibility of ensuring processes are in place to sign off pay progression. The pay progression process will be as follows:  

Employers must ensure that the pay progression submission process is completed in a timely fashion to ensure that pay progression can be implemented in time for the doctors pay progression date.  

More information on pay progression can be found in Schedule 13 in the TCS.  

The minimum of one SPA designated in both of the SAS contracts is specifically designated for job planning, and the completion of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements for appraisal and revalidation. Any additional SPA activity beyond these requirements would require additional SPA time in the job plan.  

Activities undertaken in SPA time underpin direct clinical care work. They may include: personal appraisal and revalidation, personal job planning, CPD, teaching and training, audit, research, clinical management, local clinical governance activities and statutory and mandatory training.  

Used effectively, SPAs will benefit the individual, the organisation and the wider NHS. SPAs should be used to support the individual SAS doctor in developing within their role and achieving their own agreed objectives and those of the team and organisation in which they work. 

SAS doctors should have access to appropriate opportunities for personal development of their skills, to extend their clinical and professional knowledge, to work on quality improvement initiatives and to lead and develop others to improve patient experience. To achieve this, employers will be expected to routinely discuss and consider further SPA time in addition to the contractual one SPA as part of the job plan review for every SAS doctor. The job planning process should allow for a range of SPA activities appropriate for individuals linked to personal continuing professional development requirements and the agreed needs of doctors and the service. 

Where additional SPA time is agreed, activities should offer development opportunities to the individual and be used to support organisational objectives. Such activity could include teaching, research, clinical management or medical education roles. Employers may offer additional SPA time beyond the contractually mandated minimum. Doing so would allow SAS doctors to deliver activities which benefit to both the individual and the employer.