Junior doctors dispute: talks to resume in attempt to avert strikes

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/nov/29/junior-doctors-dispute-talks-resume-bid-avert-strike

Version 1 of 2.

Government officials and the British Medical Association (BMA) are due to resume talks to avert a strike by junior doctors that would cause substantial disruption to the NHS, with hospitals forced to cancel outpatient clinics and non-urgent operations.

Behind-the-scenes discussions were being held between the parties and an official from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) before Monday’s negotiations.

“Further discussions with the parties are taking place today and Acas conciliation talks will resume on Monday,” said an Acas spokesman.

Doctors are poised to take action on three days over pay and working conditions, providing emergency-only care for 24 hours from 8am on Tuesday, followed by full strikes from 8am to 5pm on 8 and 16 December. Army medics are likely to be drafted in to provide cover if the stoppages goahead.

Related: Junior doctors’ leader Johann Malawana on NHS strikes: ‘No doctor wants to do what we are being pushed into’

The BMA’s advice to members on picketing, says: “It is likely that our armed forces colleagues will be asked to step in to provide support for clinical services on the days of action. The law does not permit them to take part in industrial action, but their support for services during the industrial action is welcome.”

Monday’s talks hosted by Acas followed three days of negotiations last week. Those talks followed a volte-face by Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, who had refused to agree to discussions unless BMA officials came to the negotiating table first. He changed tack last Wednesday when he told Dr Mark Porter, the BMA chairman, that “any talks are better than strikes”.

Last week’s talks were the first formal face-to-face discussions in 13 months between representatives of the BMA and NHS Employers, and Department of Health civil servants.

But the first strike – in which England’s 45,000 junior doctors intend to provide emergency-only cover for 24 hours – is still set to go ahead as planned unless Hunt drops his threat to impose a contract if the two sides cannot thrash out an agreement.

“The talks will continue as long as they are needed,” said a BMA spokeswoman. “We very much want to avert strike action, but the key sticking point is the threat of imposition of the new contract while talks are ongoing.”

Related: Junior doctors overwhelmingly vote for NHS strikes

In a recent ballot, 98% of BMA junior doctors who voted backed strike action in protest at the threatened new contract. They say it is unfair for doctors and unsafe for patients.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has voiced concern over the contract, warning there is a significant chance of returning to the “bad old days” of overburdened junior doctors in danger of giving substandard care.

“These proposals will also have a serious and negative impact on the morale of our specialty’s 1,600 junior doctors,” the RCOG said in September. “There has been the failure to consider the already difficult working conditions in the labour ward and this will lead to early retirement or an exodus from across the profession, consequently harming patient care.”

Both the government and the junior doctors argue that the dispute is essentially about patient safety. The government presents changes to the contract as part of the move towards seven-day working. Hunt said the dangers of lower weekend hospital staffing under the current arrangement were comparable to flying without a co-pilot.

Junior doctors are angry that the contract will redefine their normal working week to include Saturday, and will remove overtime rates for working between 7pm and 10pm on weekdays, but are more concerned that safeguards preventing the NHS from overworking them will be removed.