Publish date: 13 October 2024
SAS Week 2024 - celebrating our specialty and specialist doctor workforce
From 14 to 18 October, we are marking SAS Week 2024 to recognise the contribution of this part of our workforce.
SAS is a term for specialty and specialist grade doctors and dentists with at least four years of postgraduate training, two of which are in a relevant specialty.
SAS doctors and dentists are a much valued part of the NHS workforce, and it’s a fulfilling and rewarding career choice for those involved.
We have more than 70 SAS doctors and dentists across all specialities, so we thank them for the part they play in Team Northumbria.
They contribute to a varied and diverse workforce, so we are recognising their contribution this week.
We will be sharing blogs from 5 SAS doctors at the trust across this week - you will be able to find these in our blogs section.
Northumbria Healthcare's chief executive, Dr Birju Bartoli, said: "Our SAS workforce is a key part of the Northumbria family and play an essential part in ensuring we continue to deliver safe and high-quality care to our patients. I am a big supporter of the role and consider them a key part of our clinical workforce.
"I would encourage you to read the bios of some of our SAS doctors and hear about their roles and the career decisions they have made. These posts help to create stability to our teams and can help to provide an alternative perspective to some of our thinking."
I just wanted to say a big thank-you to you all for your hard work and commitment.
Paul Gallagher, a consultant surgeon and LNC chair, added: "The SAS workforce has progressively increased over the years. Nearly all departments in the trust have SAS doctors as essential members of their workforce. There is strong representation by SAS doctors on the trust’s medical staff (MSC) and local negotiating (LNC) committees. This has provided a robust and consistent voice for SAS doctors across the years.
"As well as championing the rights and contractual terms of employment, the committee forums have allowed discussion of innovative and flexible means of working with the trust. In addition, there are many areas of concern shared between SAS doctors, consultants, doctors in training and locally employed doctors.
"The SAS representatives share a mutual understanding and respect with all grades of doctor. I look forward to continue working along with my SAS colleagues in representing issues of concern with the trust."
Earlier this year, we endorsed the #SASsix national campaign, a roadmap for improving the careers for specialty, specialists and associate specialist (SAS) doctors and dentists, who play a key role in medical workforce.
