HCSA meaning in Medical ?

The Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) 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.

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.

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.

HCSA has been affiliated to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) since 1979.

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

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.

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.

In April 2018, the HCSA AGM endorsed Dr Claudia Paoloni as President-elect. When she takes up her post in 2019 she will become the first ever woman President in the association's history.

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