Doctors fight for justice

  Thousands of junior doctors in England are next week set to take industrial action for the third time this year over the Government’s handling of the contract dispute. The 48-hour period of action, beginning at 8am on Wednesday 9 March, comes as the BMA is preparing to launch a judicial review into the Government’s decision to impose a contract on trainees in England. The BMA claims the Government has failed to follow due process by not undertaking an equality impact assessment prior to its decision to force new terms and conditions on junior doctors in August. BMA junior doctors committee chair Johann Malawana said: ‘This is yet another example of the incompetence which the Government has demonstrated throughout its handling of the dispute.’ Dr Malawana said the Government could avert the latest industrial action by re-entering talks to resolve outstanding issues over their contract.   Overseas options Further industrial action is also planned for 8am on Wednesday 6 April to 8am on Friday 8 April; and 8am on Tuesday 26 April to 8am on Thursday 28 April. The Government’s decision to impose a contract has resulted in a huge surge in applications to the GMC for the certificate usually required to apply for posts overseas. On 11 February, the day health secretary Jeremy Hunt made his announcement in the Commons, 298 doctors applied for a CCPS (certificate of current professional status), with a further 106 doing the same the following d...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news