Carry on doctor

As the Tories and their tabloids ramped up attacks on junior hospital doctors, other health professionals rallied in support of the 24 hour strike action set to start tomorrow morning at 8am. NHS unions agreed a joint protocol to support protest action by doctors and to refuse to cover for striking doctors or carry out other non-contractual work relating to the action.

 

In a joint notice NHS unions made clear that other staff: “should continue with their normal duties but should not take on any non-contractual additional responsibilities being given to them directly as a result of the industrial action. They should not be expected to be moved from their normal duties or provide cover for staff taking industrial action or  take on overtime or additional shifts to make up for the industrial action of other staff.”

 

They also encouraged other staff to support doctors’ protests outside of working hours and make supporting statements. Junior hospital doctors have also given notice of 48 hour strike action – with 999 care – from 8 am  Tuesday 26 January to 8 am Thursday 28 January 2016 and full strike action for 9 hours starting on 8am on Wednesday 10 February 2016.

 

The British Medical Association suspended strike action last month after Health secretary Jeremy Hunt withdrew a threat to rip up doctors contracts of employment and impose a new, and worse contract. The BMA triggered talks through the conciliation service ACAS to which Hunt reluctantly agreed.

 

Hunt has cloaked his attack on doctors’ contracts by insisting it is a move towards 7 day services across the NHS. But he does not have the money or the number of doctors – or any other NHS staff – to make that work and has not given details of what improved patient outcomes he will achieve by it.

 

The BMA remains determined that any new contract will not undermine patient safety by a return to the bad old days of exhausted junior doctors regularly working over 100 hours per week. A strike ballot announced last month showed a huge turn out in a ballot that returned near unanimous support for strike action.

 

“The NHS is buckling under 5 years of austerity funding” says Unite national officer for health Barrie Brown. “With current funding7 day services beyond A and E is a fantasy, there are not enough doctors or all the other staff you need to for genuine 7 day services.

 

“For Jeremy Hunt it is a  fig leaf for his attack on junior hospital doctors. He thinks he can bully and threaten them, but they have remained united in their determination to stand up to him.

 

“Hunt has politicised this dispute with his ill-timed politically motivated interventions which have undermined national employers during the negotiations. He now has the gall to accuse the doctors of being political.

 

“These attacks are going to get worse. The Tories and their tame media barons are going to throw everything at junior doctors – dead bodies, threats, lies, the lot.

 

“It is important for junior doctors to know that their colleagues will support them against Jeremy Hunt, the latest here today, gone tomorrow health secretary. Their health service colleagues are with them and we will support them all we can.”

Dr Ron Singer, chair of Doctors in Unite said; “In the UK we spend less than France, Germany and many other countries on our health service.  We have fewer doctors and nurses per head of population.

“Politicians should line up with the public and say a huge ‘Well done’ and ‘Thank you’ to all NHS staff.  Instead the government wants doctors to work longer for less – we already get a health service on the cheap thanks to our staff.

“Fund the health service properly and staff will continue to work as hard as they do – there should simply be more staff in our NHS and then we can extend to a full 7 day service.

“Doctors would love to see the health service funded well enough to deliver 7 day working but Jeremy Hunt will not deliver that. It can’t be done at nil cost as Hunt claims so it’s a non-runner from the start.

“Hunt has the temerity to accuse junior doctors of putting patients at risk if they take short-term strike action. In September alone Hunt saw four key NHS targets were missed – A&E admissions, cancer referrals, ambulance response times and the NHS 111 call service.

“NHS foundation trusts are also facing huge financial pressures, running up record budget deficits in the first six months of this financial year alone. The missed targets and huge deficits are a very clear and sustained threat to patient safety, far greater than any short-term strike action.

“This is about bullying junior doctors into a worse contract. The safeguards in place to monitor junior doctor’s hours are to be relaxed.

“These safeguards and the overtime rates for doctors help control junior doctors hours. If you tone down the safeguards and make doctors cheaper you open the floodgates to longer hours and more unsocial hours.

“In the medical profession we know that tired brains make poor decisions. And that is why the new contracts are unsafe for patients.”