The Workers of England Union supports Junior doctors in England because these governments proposals will only affect junior doctors them as the policy will not be implemented in Scotland or Wales. This is unfair situation and it highlights why the Workers of England Union was created. We are the only Trade Union that is standing up for the English taxpayer. However the Workers of England Union is not against some of the proposal being put forward and we urge our members to read the following points
THE DEAL THEY TURNED DOWN: WHAT JUNIOR DOCTORS REJECTED
Junior doctors would be paid time and a half for working nights, between 9pm and 7am, Monday to Friday.
The 9pm boundary is a new concession offered by ministers – it was previously going to be 10pm.
They would be paid time and a third for Sundays, and there is an extra concession on Saturdays. These were initially going to be paid at the normal rate, but doctors will now receive time and a half for working at least one in three Saturdays.
There will also be a guarantee that no one will work two Saturdays in a row.
A new addition to the deal is that no one will work more than 72 hours a week. The current limit is 91 hours a week.
But the BMA says that, overall, this is a far worse deal than doctors have at present when it comes to out-of-hours pay. They are currently paid time and a half from 7pm to 7am, and time and a third on all weekends.
To compensate for the reduction in out-of-hours pay and lengthening of the normal working day, the Government is offering a higher basic salary for junior doctors. This will rise by 11 per cent.
Doctors will also be paid rates that are 10 per cent higher if they have to be on call from home at evenings and weekends.
But the BMA says they should be paid at least 20 per cent more to be on call from home, and points out that some hospitals currently pay 50 per cent more.
Nearly 3,000 will have their operations cancelled in doctor strike: Hunt blames ‘irresponsible’ union for spreading misinformation about the bitter dispute
- Health Secretary claims BMA is ‘distorting’ facts to win over public opinion
- BMA hits back, accusing Hunt of ‘scaring patients’ on weekend death rates
- Labour condemns ‘utter shambles’ and says he’s driving medics abroad
- SNP Government tells England’s junior doctors to move to Scotland
By Matt Dathan, Mailonline Political Correspondent and Colin Fernandez for the Daily Mail
Published: 18:29, 7 February 2016 | Updated: 00:00, 8 February 2016
Jeremy Hunt today accused the doctors union of ‘spreading misinformation’ and behaving in a ‘totally irresponsible way’ over the on-going junior doctors dispute.
The Health Secretary acknowledged the low morale and anger among junior doctors but blamed the British Medical Association (BMA) for making medics feel ‘devalued’.
With three days to go until junior doctors are to stage their second walkout this year, Mr Hunt claimed the BMA was ‘distorting’ facts in a bid to win over public support for strike action.
He said the new contract is essential to deliver the Conservative party’s manifesto pledge for a seven-day NHS but the BMA insists the new terms would require junior doctors working more unsociable hours on regular pay.
Mr Hunt has insisted the Government is ready to impose the new contract on junior doctors if the BMA refuses to agree a deal.
hit back at Mr Hunt’s claims, saying he had ‘scared patients and the public’ with misleading figures about hospital death rates at the weekend.
And Labour branded his handling of the dispute an ‘utter shambles’ that was driving junior doctors abroad.
‘He has to stop behaving like a recruiting sergeant for Australian hospitals and start behaving like the secretary of state for our NHS,’ Shadow Health Secretary Heidi Alexander said.
As the talks intensified, the Scottish Government launched a recruitment campaign to encourage junior doctors working in England to move to Scotland.
Andrew Marr asks Jeremy Hunt about ‘despairing’ doctors
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The Health Secretary, pictured on the Andrew Marr Show this morning, acknowledged that junior doctors were angry but blamed the BMA for making them feel ‘devalued’
Hunt says his door is still open to the BMA for further negotiations but it is unlikely anything will stop Wednesday’s walkout, which will cause the same level of disruption to hospital services when junior doctors went on strike last month, pictured above
Hunt, pictured on the Andrew Marr Show today, was accused of driving junior doctors abroad by threatening to impose a new contract on junior doctors
THE DEAL THEY TURNED DOWN: WHAT JUNIOR DOCTORS REJECTED
Junior doctors launched their first strike action on January 12 and had suspended the campaign of industrial action to engage in further talks
Junior doctors would be paid time and a half for working nights, between 9pm and 7am, Monday to Friday.
The 9pm boundary is a new concession offered by ministers – it was previously going to be 10pm.
They would be paid time and a third for Sundays, and there is an extra concession on Saturdays. These were initially going to be paid at the normal rate, but doctors will now receive time and a half for working at least one in three Saturdays.
There will also be a guarantee that no one will work two Saturdays in a row.
A new addition to the deal is that no one will work more than 72 hours a week. The current limit is 91 hours a week.
But the BMA says that, overall, this is a far worse deal than doctors have at present when it comes to out-of-hours pay. They are currently paid time and a half from 7pm to 7am, and time and a third on all weekends.
To compensate for the reduction in out-of-hours pay and lengthening of the normal working day, the Government is offering a higher basic salary for junior doctors. This will rise by 11 per cent.
Doctors will also be paid rates that are 10 per cent higher if they have to be on call from home at evenings and weekends.
But the BMA says they should be paid at least 20 per cent more to be on call from home, and points out that some hospitals currently pay 50 per cent more.
Acknowledging the anger of junior doctors, Mr Hunt told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘Quite outside the contract, we need to do a number of things to improve the morale of junior doctors. I think there is a lot we can do in respect of the training.
‘But what I would say is one of the reasons for that anger – and there is anger there – is because they were told by the BMA that their pay was going to be cut. It isn’t.
‘They were told that they were going to be asked to work longer hours. They aren’t, we are actually bringing down the hours they work.
‘And if you are told by your union that the Health Secretary wants to do these awful things, of course you feel devalued.’
He insisted his choice of language during the dispute had been ‘extremely careful’ but claimed his words were often ‘distorted’ by the BMA, ‘which is one of the cleverest trade unions in the book because they know that in any argument between doctors and politicians, the public are going to side with doctors’.
The BMA rejected his claims and hit back with its own accusation.
Dr Johann Malawana, the BMA’s junior doctor committee chairman, said: ‘We already have a situation where unprecedented numbers of junior doctors are considering their options and even leaving the NHS, how can the Government deliver more seven-day services if there are even greater staff shortages in the NHS?
‘The Health Secretary is also still refusing to acknowledge that he has scared patients and the public, and angered NHS staff by misrepresenting statistics.’
NHS England said it ‘regretted’ thousands of planned procedures will have to be rearranged and that people will have to wait longer for treatment as a result.
Dr Anne Rainsberry, of NHS England, said: ‘The NHS is doing everything possible to minimise the impact of this regrettable strike which will delay care for thousands of patients at a time of year when service pressures across the health service are already at their highest.’
Meanwhile the Scottish Government has placed adverts on social media and in medical journals encouraging junior doctors to consider a career in Scotland, where health is a devolved issue run by the Holyrood administration.
Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison said junior doctors were ‘value members of our healthcare team here in Scotland and are integral to our continuing drive to improve care to the people of Scotland’.
She added: ‘I would encourage junior doctors across the UK and beyond to consider the exciting opportunities that the NHS in Scotland provides.’
Mr Hunt has made it clear the Government will impose the new contract if they fail to reach an agreement with the BMA but said his door was still open for further negotiations.
‘The single issue that we are still at loggerheads on is this question of unsocial hours on Saturdays, I have said my door is open, I’m happy to do that,’ he said.
‘The BMA are saying they don’t want to talk about that. What I am saying is rather than cancelling more operations, come and talk.’
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