06.07.16
Hunt to impose junior doctors’ contract
Jeremy Hunt is to impose a new contract on junior doctors despite members of the British Medical Association (BMA) voting to reject it.
The health secretary announced in the House of Commons today that he would impose the contract to avoid “protracted uncertainty” following the resignation of the BMA junior doctors committee chair Dr Johann Malawana, as well as the vote to leave the EU.
Hunt said that following advice from Professor Dame Sue Bailey, president of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the contract will be introduced in stages.
It will be imposed from October this year for more senior obstetrics trainees, then in November and December for Foundation Year 1 doctors taking up new posts and Foundation Year 2 doctors on the same rotas, before the contract is fully imposed by October 2017.
Hunt said: “This is a difficult decision to make. Many people will call for me to return to negotiations with the BMA and to them I would like to say this: we have been talking or trying to talk for well over three years. There is no consensus around a new contract and after yesterday’s vote it is not clear that any further discussions could create one.”
The contract was agreed in May, when the BMA and the government agreed to resume negotiations after repeated doctors’ strikes.
(Image c. Neil Hall from PA Wire)
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