Define seven-day services, say consultants

  Consultants have called on the UK Government to provide a clear and workable definition of seven-day services. The BMA consultants conference yesterday heard examples from senior doctors of the ‘excellent’ hospital weekend care already being provided under their existing terms and conditions. However, doctors at the conference in London rejected calls to stop ongoing negotiations on a new contract for consultants in England and Northern Ireland, saying that they first needed to see the final offer from Government. Consultants agreed that no progress was possible in the Government’s plan to expand seven-day NHS services without a clear definition of what it wanted to achieve. Last year, the BMA used a series of high-profile newspaper adverts to ask the Government seven questions about seven-day services — it answered one, in a parliamentary response, saying its plan was to focus on the delivery of urgent and emergency services.  Middlesex consultant histopathologist Anne Thorpe told the conference that the Government constantly conflates seven-day services with changing doctors’ contracts but there were plenty of examples of how weekend and evening services were being delivered under current terms and conditions. Buckinghamshire ENT consultant Ram Moorthy said he and his colleagues had examined the proposed new junior doctors' contract and could not work out how it would improve staffing seven days a week. Mr Moorthy said it would no...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news