A SAS Collective Blog

Dr Robert James Fleming MBChB FRCA

Working together to create change: The SAS Collective talks about the ongoing HCSA support for the SAS Collective and the SAS Six Asks.  

When we launched the SAS Six campaign during SAS week in October 2023, we knew that we wanted to help create meaningful, sustained change for our professional group. We believe the SAS Six “asks” contain some of the solutions required to make this possible, and we hope to make these things normal. We believe that through organising, lobbying and creating visibility for the campaign though social media, we will help build momentum towards this goal.

We also hoped to gain friends and allies along the way, and to make our campaign their campaign too. We knew that the campaign needed to cross organisations and specialties if it was going to have the impact that we hoped it would, becoming bigger than just its founders. In short, we knew we couldn’t do any of this without help! We therefore remain incredibly grateful to the HCSA, who were the first organisation to formally support us and the SAS Six campaign, doing so in February 2024. Our campaign has subsequently been supported or endorsed by Royal Colleges, membership organisations and others, but the HCSA were the first to publicly announce that they believe in our aims, and we will never forget it.

We recently had the opportunity to refresh some friendships with representatives from the HCSA, when they joined us at a parliamentary event organised by the Association of Anaesthetists and Peter Prinsley, MP. This event which was focussed around the contribution SAS doctors make to the NHS, featured talks by Peter Prinsley and representatives from the Association of Anaesthetists, including Honorary Treasurer and SAS Anaesthetist, Emma Wain, and President, Tim Meek. As supporters of the campaign and long-time allies of SAS doctors, the Association of Anaesthetists were kind enough to invite us along too and asked us to say a few words about the campaign.

SAS Collective member, Rob Fleming, touched upon how important the friends and allies we have made along the way have been to us, and to our work. Many of those friends and allies were also in attendance at the event, including HCSA president, Naru Narayanan. We also had the opportunity to meet up with other supporters of the campaign, including representatives from the Royal College of Anaesthetists, the Royal College of Physicians, the Intensive Care Society and Medical Protection.

In his remarks, Rob reiterated the ongoing need for the campaign. The creation of the senior “Specialist” role in the 2021 SAS contract reform, as well as the update to CESR, creating the “portfolio pathway” to specialist registration, should each have made career progression as a SAS doctor more achievable. The countless valuable documents produced by individual Royal Colleges and associations, and by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, should have made professional development opportunity likewise the norm. SAS doctors should be taking up leadership and educational roles, and for some, this is indeed now a reality. As Rob said in his talk, this should be the “best time in history” to be a doctor outside of a rotational training programme.

However, we also know that many SAS and locally employed doctors still find their careers hindered, rather than supported. Professional development, progression when earned, and achieving your potential are still not guaranteed for many within our group. The SAS Six campaign, outlined in full below, was designed to break some of these barriers down.

The SAS Six Campaign “Asks”:

1. Every early career SAS doctor should have access to an educational supervisor.
2. All SAS doctors should have equity of access to professional development opportunities relevant to their stage of career.
3. All Specialty Doctors who meet the required capabilities should have the opportunity to become Specialists.
4. Senior SAS doctors should be offered the opportunity to be educators at every level on a par with consultants e.g. educational supervisors, clinical supervisors, directors of medical education.
5. All extended roles in leadership and management should be open to all substantive medical staff i.e. consultants AND appropriately experienced SAS doctors.
6. All locally employed doctors employed for more than two years within one trust should be offered the opportunity to transfer to the appropriate SAS contract.

We would like to take this opportunity to once again reiterate our thanks to our allies in the HCSA. We would also like reinforce our intent to work closely with the organisations who support our campaign, including the HCSA, to make their offerings to SAS doctors relevant to their needs. In doing so, we hope that some of the SAS Six “asks” will become reality for more doctors.

We can change the world by working together.

HCSA -the hospital doctors’ union continues to support the ongoing work of the SAS Collective and the SAS Six Asks, watch this space for updates in the coming weeks.

HCSA is the trade union and professional association for hospital doctors of all grades. SAS and locally employed doctors who are not yet members can join today.