The government’s imposition of a “deal” on junior doctors is a disaster for the NHS. Jeremy Hunt’s cynical move will have a hugely detrimental impact on industrial relations, and on the care that patients receive.
Thousands of doctors will leave the National Health Service in England, heading to Wales and Scotland (where these changes aren’t happening) as well as moving abroad. Doctors have a choice about where they work – and they’ll vote with their feet.
Everyone agrees that the day of the week or time of day someone goes into hospital should not have any impact on their chances of recovery or survival. Yet Jeremy Hunt wants more services over seven days without being prepared to fund it.
Instead he wants hardworking NHS staff to pay for it through cuts to their pay.
If this is how the government is going to act, other unions – including UNISON – are not going to have any confidence in any future negotiations if ministers feel they can impose what they want, when they want
NHS staff feel, quite rightly, that they’re coming under constant attack.
Our position on this is clear. If the government comes for the unsocial hours payments that NHS staff have come to rely upon following years of pay austerity, we will be ready for them. So will hard-pressed health workers who are ready to stand up for their pay and conditions, as their junior doctor colleagues already have.
