Why we must support Junior Doctors

Why we must support Junior Doctors

Jeremy Hunt, has devised a new contract for junior doctors, whom he loves and seeks to reward. The Health minister, well known for his boundless medical expertise, experience and compassion, in all his wisdom has done it! He has finally created an NHS that can function on the weekend with the great help of Junior Doctors on Saturdays and Sundays.
The geniuses among you may have sensed my light note of sarcasm above. You are so clever in fact that you could apply to do medicine, although I would probably suggest going to Australia for practicing that now.
Jeremy Hunt, has indeed devised a new contract for junior doctors in the government’s quest for a “truly seven-day service”. To do this, the proposed contract would make working weekends for 20 somethings not “unsociable” but normal. At the moment, doctors receive a higher rate of pay when they work outside of 07:00 to 19:00 Monday to Friday. But the new deal would see this extended to 07:00 to 22:00 Monday to Saturday – meaning the number of working hours classified as “normal” will be increased by 50%.
Of course, a “truly seven day” service is a very desirable cause. It is quite shocking to think that the drop in standards of services on the weekends have led to a shocking figure of “6000 avoidable deaths” (Jeremy Hunt). However the answer to this problem is equally shocking. Jeremy Hunt says that we need to return to the mentality that the vocation of being a doctor is not to just Monday to Friday. However it is curious, to be more polite, to confront this problem in a simplistic manner by introducing this contract to the Junior Doctors that so often work unpaid overtime, already come in on weekends and are on call into the early hours of the morning. In fact, so many Junior Doctors work weekends and “unsociable” hours that the hashtag #ImInWorkJeremy trended the week before thousands attended a march against the contract in central London. Perhaps the reason that there are significantly more deaths at weekends is because the cuts to local councils have led to real drops in care services that can only offer weekday services. This case has resulted in stretches of national services on the weekend as all the initial safety nets slide away on Friday evening until Monday morning.
It is preposterous to think that the young men and women that have already traveled a 6 or 5 year journey in University for a profession in helping people really have a clock-in/ clock-out attitude. They are already doing all they can to contribute to the best NHS that they can offer. Yet this new contract will call their efforts “normal” and in some cases pay them even up to 15% less.
Furthermore, to require the same consultants to work the same hours on the weekend forms a clear problem. If you want to improve the standard of consultant care on weekends you either have stretched consultants or have more consultants. The truth is that we have had not nearly enough of an increase of doctors to provide a seven day service. The conservatives proudly state that there have been 9000 more doctors in the last government. However David Cameron may need to be reminded that it takes 5 years to train a doctor so the last (labour) government should be thanked for that.
This means we have stretched consultants, which is exactly what Jeremy Hunt plans in his contract. It is for this reason that we must stand with our Junior Doctors and the BMA. Firstly as we have discussed above, Junior Doctors should not face this simple and blunt plan that will only hurt them when in reality they should be rewarded immensely. However the contract could also hurt us all:
Some doctors could end up working 90 hours a week. This is a remarkable figure considering there are only 168 hours in the week. This means that the professionals that hold responsibility for our health will be on their feet working a highly stressful job for more than half the week. Scary, right? Anaesthetists, A&E doctors etc will be in short, exhausted; taking care of our lives. All in an ordinary Sunday for these heroes, but according to Jeremy Hunt this is just ordinary. He is in effect taking a gamble with our lives.
In addition to these immediate problems, the contract may be too much for many doctors. A survey of more than 4,000 young medics shows more than 70% would move abroad, become a locum or change career. If the contract truly will deter these medics from becoming doctors in England, then there will be even less doctors coming in for Jeremy’s 7 day service. However if they continue to push the policy then presumably the remaining English doctors will be even further pressed on top of their lower paid contract. The problem will snowball.
It is clear that Jeremy Hunt’s lack of knowledge about the reality of serving in the NHS is damaging it severely. This proposal is the wrong solution to a real problem. I’m not sure how many times our NHS can afford to say that.

Adam Feldman