Junior doctors abandon strikes and accept new contract

Fretwired

Junior doctors have formally abandoned strike action against the imposition of a new contract after a series of walkouts that turned public opinion against them.

The British Medical Association’s junior doctors’ committee announced that it would change direction and “re-engage with NHS leaders and politicians” over implementation of the contract, in a statement issued this afternoon.

What happened? This came out of the blue ..

Handsome_Chris

The management may have agreed to negotiate.

thecolourbox

Fretwired said:

that turned public opinion against them.

I don't know anybody who turned against them personally but willing to accept that my social circle may be rather more lefty than the average demographic

lustycourtier

Who turned against them? 

ICBM

No-one. They just lost interest because something else happened.

That's the nature of the modern media age...

Heartfeltdawn

Fretwired said:

Junior doctors have formally abandoned strike action against the imposition of a new contract after a series of walkouts that turned public opinion against them.

The British Medical Association’s junior doctors’ committee announced that it would change direction and “re-engage with NHS leaders and politicians” over implementation of the contract, in a statement issued this afternoon.

What happened? This came out of the blue ..

Trump effect. Clearly. 

Sambostar

Yeah they woke up and realised that popular opinion was against them and that they'd be in the gas chamber  like the rest of us if they didn't knuckle down and stop their whinging  Joking.

tampadragon

lustycourtier said:

Who turned against them? 

I turned against them, I've always considered it a career you get into because you want to help people, not because you want to make loads of money and become a consultant one day!
Striking puts people at risk!
Incidentally I think striking should just be made illegal in general!

crunchman

Newly qualified doctors who started in September were on the new contract anyway.  If they didn't sign it then no job.  This is probably why they have backed down.

@tampadragon, I suggest that you read some history - specifically about conditions in Victorian sweatshops before the workers formed unions and went on strike.

Chalky

I don't think people turned against them, but people didn't give them unwavering support and sympathy. A strike is futile against indifference. And the general public understanding that the NHS is under pressure as we go into winter means that striking doctors would go down like a shit-sandwich with the public.

strtdv

I don't think they need to strike. Doctors are voting with their feet.
Training posts are unfilled, locum numbers are ever increasing, consultant posts are unfilled. There is no incentive whatsoever to take up a training post in England. Even Scotland, which isn't imposing the contract, struggles to fill posts. Last year 1 out of 8 posts in acute medicine was filled in Scotland.

Ironically the cost to the government will be higher under the new contract as a locum costs about 4-5x what a permanent staff member costs.

The demoralisation has reached the stage where doctors no longer care if the NHS collapses. In the long term they'll all be better off under whatever private system replaces the NHS. The strikes were about ensuring that rotas were safe for patients and that medicine was still a viable career option for the best educated, most motivated people coming out of university.

Moe_Zambeek

I think that the recent trend in the media of saying 'the BMA, the doctors' union...' rather than just 'The British Medical Association' has been a factor. The BMA had this perception of being a neutral, all-knowing body of owlish old Docs with wisdom and experience and balance.

randella

Heartfeltdawn said:

Fretwired said:

Junior doctors have formally abandoned strike action against the imposition of a new contract after a series of walkouts that turned public opinion against them.

The British Medical Association’s junior doctors’ committee announced that it would change direction and “re-engage with NHS leaders and politicians” over implementation of the contract, in a statement issued this afternoon.

What happened? This came out of the blue ..

Trump effect. Clearly. 

I've been keeping a close eye on the news to see what else is getting buried while the Orange One is having his time in the sunshine.  Apart from the junior doctors' business, and the government ramping up 'Prevent' which'll no doubt result in more eight-year-old boys getting hauled down the police station for playing with a water pistol, there doesn't seem to be much.

May's missing a trick here, she could be clearing out those skeletons like fury this week.

strtdv

Oh and anyone who thinks doctors should do their job purely to help people needs to catch themselves on. 

A group of people who have got straight A's at GCSE, then 4 A levels, then an aptitude test to even get into a competitive 5 year university course costing them £9k a year, then followed by a minimum of 9 years training on the job working long hours, nights and weekends, during which you're expected to take several sets of professional exams and do CPD the whole way through in your own time, before finally you get a stable job at the end of that. You want them to do that out of the goodness of their heart? Seems optimistic.
The NHS isn't a charity. There's plenty of scope in MSF etc to do that sort of thing if they feel inclined to.

I'm not saying doctors don't care about their patients, but to expect them to provide excellent and compassionate specialised healthcare for the same pay as a night shift shelf stacker in Tesco is ridiculous.

Fretwired

lustycourtier said:

Who turned against them? 

The public - I'm quoting a union official not making my own comments up. I'll try and find the link again.

Fretwired

From the Times - 11-11-2016

Junior doctors have formally admitted defeat in their battle over a new contract, abandoning the threat of strike action to work with the government.

The British Medical Association faced an immediate backlash from members for the decision. The outcry highlighted the internal divisions that ultimately forced the BMA to end a series of walkouts including the first all-out strikes in NHS history.

Peter Campbell, acting chairman of the BMA junior doctors committee, told members in an email: “With the contract being introduced as existing contracts expire, we believe the best way of achieving the best outcome for all our members is to work with the government and NHS employers to monitor the implementation of the contract and raise additional issues.”

The union has formally relinquished its legal mandate to strike, meaning it would have to ballot its members again to take further action.

Dr Campbell, who took over at the weekend after his predecessor, Ellen McCourt, decided her position was untenable, said that he had opted for talks with the government “in trade” for ending the mandate for industrial action.

Last year 98 per cent of junior doctors who voted endorsed industrial action after talks broke down.

Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, wants to change the way doctors are reimbursed for working weekends to get more of them on the wards out of hours. He has promised a rise in basic salary to compensate. After walkouts that excluded emergency care in January and February, in March junior doctors walked out of A&E units for the first time.

A compromise deal in May appeared to have settled the dispute but doctors rejected the agreement in a ballot over the summer, exposing deep divisions in the union over its aims and methods. Plans for further five-day strikes in September were cancelled after a revolt from junior doctors.

The Junior Doctors Alliance, set up to continue the fight, condemned the BMA for making the decision without consultation. A spokeswoman said: “This is unacceptable. The BMA is a democratic union and its decision-making and actions should be transparent to its membership. It is clear that our union prefers secrecy rather than transparency when dealing with the government and its members. It’s no wonder so many doctors — at all grades — are losing trust in the BMA.”

Newly qualified doctors began moving on to the new contract last month. The Department of Health said: “It’s welcome news for patients that the BMA has called off industrial action. The NHS is getting on with the job of implementing this contract and we are determined to make sure junior doctors are supported during this process.”

A5D5E5

strtdv said:

Oh and anyone who thinks doctors should do their job purely to help people needs to catch themselves on. 

A group of people who have got straight A's at GCSE, then 4 A levels, then an aptitude test to even get into a competitive 5 year university course costing them £9k a year, then followed by a minimum of 9 years training on the job working long hours, nights and weekends, during which you're expected to take several sets of professional exams and do CPD the whole way through in your own time, before finally you get a stable job at the end of that. You want them to do that out of the goodness of their heart? Seems optimistic.
The NHS isn't a charity. There's plenty of scope in MSF etc to do that sort of thing if they feel inclined to.

I'm not saying doctors don't care about their patients, but to expect them to provide excellent and compassionate specialised healthcare for the same pay as a night shift shelf stacker in Tesco is ridiculous.

Lots to agree with in your post.  Pity you ruined it by going all hyperbolic at the end.  Nobody is asking them to work for the same pay as a shelf stacker.

Nitefly

randella said:

I've been keeping a close eye on the news to see what else is getting buried while the Orange One is having his time in the sunshine.  Apart from the junior doctors' business, and the government ramping up 'Prevent' which'll no doubt result in more eight-year-old boys getting hauled down the police station for playing with a water pistol, there doesn't seem to be much.

May's missing a trick here, she could be clearing out those skeletons like fury this week.

GWR main line electrification has been deferred. Again.

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/infrastructure/single-view/view/great-western-electrification-projects-deferred.html

*edit* not "main line", just Didcot - Oxford, Bristol Parkway - Temple Meads, Bath Spa - Temple Meads, and branches to Henley and Windsor.

mellowsun

A5D5E5 said:

strtdv said:

Oh and anyone who thinks doctors should do their job purely to help people needs to catch themselves on. 

A group of people who have got straight A's at GCSE, then 4 A levels, then an aptitude test to even get into a competitive 5 year university course costing them £9k a year, then followed by a minimum of 9 years training on the job working long hours, nights and weekends, during which you're expected to take several sets of professional exams and do CPD the whole way through in your own time, before finally you get a stable job at the end of that. You want them to do that out of the goodness of their heart? Seems optimistic.
The NHS isn't a charity. There's plenty of scope in MSF etc to do that sort of thing if they feel inclined to.

I'm not saying doctors don't care about their patients, but to expect them to provide excellent and compassionate specialised healthcare for the same pay as a night shift shelf stacker in Tesco is ridiculous.

Lots to agree with in your post.  Pity you ruined it by going all hyperbolic at the end.  Nobody is asking them to work for the same pay as a shelf stacker.

The hourly rate works out the same in fact. 

This is why doctors are leaving the NHS and working for private providers. The private pensions are crap, but other conditions are generally better.

Sambostar

Junior doctors are on minimum wage?

the_twin

The 5 day strike plan seems to have fallen because the bulk of the membership would not have supported it. This left the BMA in a difficult position. Really their best option now is likely to be using to the maximum effect the clauses in the new contract that provide for additional pay at punitive rates for hours worked beyond contracted or replanning work if training is not being properly provided. These provisions are likely to consume a great deal of time for those who have charge of training in individual hospitals and may have a substantial impact on how they are able to provide services.