Consultant leader calls for an end to Whitehall bully tactics UK
According to survey results1 out today (9 June 2004), eight months after doctors in England2 said 'yes' to the new consultant contract, around a quarter of NHS hospital trusts have still not met the deadline3 for implementation.
Survey results:
job plan offers have been made to consultants in around three quarters of trusts these offers were largely acceptable in around 70% of trusts, largely unacceptable in around 10% of trusts and too early to say in around 20%.
For the first time this contract pays consultants for all the work they do - if senior doctors agree to work 50 hours a week their trusts must pay them for 50 hours.
The BMA is aware that some strategic health authorities in England are putting pressure on NHS trusts only to pay consultants for a forty-hour week. This will result in the extra hours consultants currently work being cut or being continued on a goodwill basis.
Dr Miller said: "The contract has shocked the Department of Health. They had spent so long spinning against us that they forgot that independent surveys showed consultants working long hours for the NHS. So many trusts are obviously dragging their feet because they are unwilling to pay doctors for the work they do. Ultimately it will be patients who suffer - if clinics close because hospitals won't pay their consultants to run them it will mean longer waits and fewer patients being treated."
He added: "We now know that NHS bullying is not condemned from the top, it starts there. But we also know that you have to stand up to bullies because otherwise they don't stop. So, I call on consultants to show the same determination over contract implementation as they did over local contracts. Insist on time for quality work, which good patient care requires. Insist on job plans which fairly recognise your work. Insist on time to look after patients properly."
The Government is currently investing millions of pounds recruiting doctors from abroad and in setting up new private-sector treatment centres. There are also plans to shorten training for junior doctors. This is happening at the same time as hospital trusts are insisting that NHS consultants reduce the amount of patient care they provide and refusing to pay for time to teach the next generation of senior doctors.
Ends
BMA Press Release
Notes to editors
1. In May 2004 the BMA surveyed its industrial relations officers in England asking them about contract implementation in their areas.
2. Separate consultant contracts were negotiated for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and the implementation process is underway for these.
3. 30 April 2004.
The text of Dr Paul Miller's speech is available on the BMA website: http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/MillerSpeech04
Consultant de lider solicitã sã se punã capãt Whitehall bravo tactici Regatul Unit - Consultant leader calls for an end to Whitehall bully tactics UK - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate