Junior doctors have “no option” but to walk out once more at Merseyside’s hospitals over controversial new contracts, according to a union rep.
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Earlier this month the junior doctors committee (JDC) of the British Medical Association (BMA) requested a meeting of the BMA Council to authorise a “rolling programme of escalated industrial action”, starting in early September.
However, junior doctors and medical students voted in July to reject the deal, against the advice of their BMA representatives.
Workforce overload is the biggest danger flagged up by Department of Health officials – the same issue raised repeatedly by medics and dismissed by the Health Secretary.
She says the new contracts are “safe”, adding: “The government is putting patients first, the BMA should be putting patients first – not playing politics”.
Hunt also tried to exploit divisions in the BMA, the doctors’ union. They say it will lead to unsafe conditions as doctors are overworked and many claim his plans are an attempt to privatise the NHS by the backdoor.
“More strikes could be very damaging given that services are already under intolerable pressure”.
“Genuine efforts to resolve the dispute through talks have been met with an unwillingness to engage and, at times, deafening silence from the health secretary, leaving junior doctors with no choice but to take further action”.
In a blow to strike leaders, Dr Mark Porter, chair of the British Medical Association’s council, repeatedly failed to deny that the vote for the action was carried by a slim margin of 16 to 14.
“It is obviously a matter of great concern for everyone, especially for patients, and when so little time has been given for the NHS to make contingency plans”.
Jeremy Hunt, Health Secretary, critized the strike and said it was completly irresponsable motivated by the doctors opposition to a new contract that health authorities are pretending to impose in Octuber.
When asked if he would resign having lost the confidence of the BMA, Mr Hunt said: “Nye Bevan, the founder of the NHS, was described by the BMA as a “medical fuhrer”… health secretaries are rarely popular in their job”.
Thousands of staff are to step up their fight with the government by holding an strike later this month for five days from September 12-16.
The intervention followed Jeremy Hunt’s accusation in a series of broadcast interviews that junior doctors would be inflicting “the worst doctors’ strike in NHS history”.
Health bosses in Hartlepool are putting plans in place to deal with a five day strike.
If that goes ahead, a total of 100,000 operations could be cancelled along with a million appointments.
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Consultants will again fill rota gaps left by striking colleagues who will once more take to the picket lines.
