NOBODY wants junior doctors across England to strike today, least of all the junior doctors, but they feel their concerns are being ignored.
Today, Consultant clinicians in England will be supporting their junior colleagues by covering routine ward or clinic work, as junior doctors will only be carrying out emergency work.
So the only thing the Tories appear to have succeeded in is to unite the entire medical profession against their contract proposals. An achievement which is certainly not worth celebrating.
I am deeply saddened to see junior doctors driven to strike action today in order to protest against the proposed changes to their contracts. The key sticking point is the removal of increased payments for unsocial hours or working significantly beyond their expected hours. This was the one change which finally led to hospitals employing sufficient staff to cover the demand.
The Secretary of State claims that junior doctors will continue to be protected by the European Working Time directive, but this has applied to consultants since the late 1990s and yet they regularly work well beyond 48 hours. Instead of having automatic pay increases for working excessive hours, as is currently the case, junior doctors would have to challenge their hospital in the courts, which is totally impractical.
When I was a junior doctor, a heavy working week was 132 hours and a light one was 57, so I have worked the long hours under the old system and no-one wants to see a return to those unsafe conditions.
Jeremy Hunt opened his attacks on the medical profession last July when he claimed that the NHS had a 9-to-5 mentality and that this resulted in people dying unnecessarily. He has continued to attack both senior and junior doctors in the media instead of trying to work towards a peaceful settlement. This negotiation has been handled so appallingly it is hard to imagine just what he thought he was going to achieve.
The British Medical Association and all doctors want to see a robust emergency service 24/7, but Mr Hunt conflates this with running more routine clinics over the weekend. Instead of bullying junior doctors into working longer hours – with a higher proportion of evening and weekend work – for little or no compensation, he should be listening to their real concerns and keeping the recompense for roles with unsocial hours. His plans will drive juniors away from the emergency services where we need them most.
A far better way would be for the UK Government to follow the example of the Scottish Government, which has been working in partnership with the medical profession and NHS Scotland staff over many years to strengthen our emergency services. It is very notable that there is no strike in Scotland. However, many of our young doctors will spend some part of their training south of the Border and will be hit by these changes.
The SNP considers the National Health Service to be one of our most cherished public services, and the Scottish Government is investing a record £12 billion on health in Scotland.
Jeremy Hunt has said that patients must always come before politics and it is high time he took his own advice – the Tories need to stop attacking junior doctors and instead should work with senior and junior doctors to introduce policies that will improve patient care and experiences.
If the SNP are returned to Government in May next year we will continue to build on our relationship with the medical profession and will ensure that the frontline resource budget for the NHS continues to rise in real terms in each and every year of the next parliament.
Dr Philippa Whitford MP is a former consultant breast cancer surgeon at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock
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