Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association

HCSA
Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association
Founded1948
HeadquartersBasingstoke, Hampshire
Location
Members
Decrease 3,137 (2022)[1]
Key people
President Dr Naru Narayanan, FRCOG

Chair of the Executive Dr Bernhard Heidemann, FRCA

General Secretary Dr Paul Donaldson
AffiliationsTUC, General Federation of Trade Unions (UK)
Websitewww.hcsa.com

HCSA - the hospital doctors' union (Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association) is a nationally recognised professional association and trade union in the UK dedicated solely to hospital consultants, specialty doctors and core/specialty hospital doctors in training and Foundation grades ("junior doctors"), originally established in 1948 as the Regional Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association.[2]

Medical Students can also join as associates.[3]

It was granted national collective bargaining rights for all grades of hospital doctors in England by NHS Employers on 22 December 2016. This is the first time any trade union for doctors other than the British Medical Association has been nationally recognised by the NHS.[4]

In 1974 the association's rules were amended to extend membership rights to all senior hospital doctors, and its members voted for a new name, the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, to reflect this change.[2]

HCSA has been affiliated to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) since 1979.[5] It is also affiliated to the General Federation of Trade Unions (UK).[4]

The association has admitted hospital specialty doctors in training ("junior doctors") since a rule change announced on 1 May 2013.[6]

On 28 April 2017 members voted for a rule change that extended membership further to encompass all post-graduate hospital doctors, including Foundation grades for the first time.[7]

On 25 June 2013 HCSA attended is first meeting of the NHS Staff Council, a body containing representatives of staff-side unions and NHS employers.[8][9]

In April 2018, the HCSA AGM endorsed Dr Claudia Paoloni as President-elect. When she took up her post in 2019 she became the first ever woman President in the association's history.[10]

The association publishes a bi-monthly magazine for members, Hospital Consultant & Specialist.[11]

  1. ^ "Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association Form AR21 for year ended 30 September 2022" (PDF). GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "65 Historic Years" Archived 2015-10-19 at the Wayback Machine, HCSA, Retrieved on 26 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Join". www.hcsa.com. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
  4. ^ a b "Alternative doctors union allowed to negotiate pay and contracts". Health Service Journal. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  5. ^ "HCSA and the TUC" Archived 2015-10-19 at the Wayback Machine, HCSA, Retrieved on 26 October 2015.
  6. ^ "HCSA welcomes hospital doctors in training", HCSA, 1 May 2013. Retrieved on 26 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Foundation trainees welcomed into HCSA family". www.hcsa.com. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  8. ^ "HCSA to take its seat on the NHS Staff Council" Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, The Hospital Consultant and Specialist, page 5, June 2013. Retrieved on 26 October 2015.
  9. ^ "NHS Staff Council" Archived 2015-12-13 at the Wayback Machine, NHS Employers. Retrieved on 26 October 2015.
  10. ^ "HCSA AGM votes in first ever woman President".
  11. ^ "Hospital Consultant & Specialist, August 2015"[permanent dead link], Hospital Consultant & Specialist, August 2015. Retrieved on 26 October 2015.