This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/03/government-offer-junior-doctors-strike
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Junior doctors: government makes last-ditch offer to avert strike | |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| A last-ditch offer will be made to junior doctors as talks aimed at finding a settlement in the protracted dispute reach a critical point. | A last-ditch offer will be made to junior doctors as talks aimed at finding a settlement in the protracted dispute reach a critical point. |
| Fresh proposals about pay and conditions will be put by NHS Employers and the Department of Health (DH) to leaders of England’s 45,000 junior doctors on Monday, the term used for all doctors below consultant level. | Fresh proposals about pay and conditions will be put by NHS Employers and the Department of Health (DH) to leaders of England’s 45,000 junior doctors on Monday, the term used for all doctors below consultant level. |
| It is an 11th-hour attempt to find a resolution to several outstanding areas of disagreement. Monday is the deadline the British Medical Association (BMA) has given for ministers to give significant ground on key issues or face a coordinated series of strikes, starting next week, just as the NHS is coming under its heaviest winter pressures. | It is an 11th-hour attempt to find a resolution to several outstanding areas of disagreement. Monday is the deadline the British Medical Association (BMA) has given for ministers to give significant ground on key issues or face a coordinated series of strikes, starting next week, just as the NHS is coming under its heaviest winter pressures. |
| Downing Street and the Treasury have both approved the fresh proposals that will be tabled for Monday, the last day of scheduled talks between the three parties. | Downing Street and the Treasury have both approved the fresh proposals that will be tabled for Monday, the last day of scheduled talks between the three parties. |
| But if BMA negotiators decide that the substance of Monday’s offer gives them too little to assuage their members’ fears on key issues, they will announce that at least one, and probably three, strikes will go ahead, starting on 13 January. Legally the BMA has to take action by that day or ballot the 38,000 junior doctors it represents for a fresh mandate for strikes. | But if BMA negotiators decide that the substance of Monday’s offer gives them too little to assuage their members’ fears on key issues, they will announce that at least one, and probably three, strikes will go ahead, starting on 13 January. Legally the BMA has to take action by that day or ballot the 38,000 junior doctors it represents for a fresh mandate for strikes. |
| Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has made two offers to try to allay the BMA’s concerns that the contract he threatened to impose on junior doctors from this summer would be unfair and unsafe. Monday’s offer is understood to have been agreed between NHS Employers and the DH since the talks stopped for Christmas on 23 December. | Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has made two offers to try to allay the BMA’s concerns that the contract he threatened to impose on junior doctors from this summer would be unfair and unsafe. Monday’s offer is understood to have been agreed between NHS Employers and the DH since the talks stopped for Christmas on 23 December. |
| The Guardian understands that Nick Seddon, David Cameron’s health adviser, has been closely involved in the DH’s handling of the dispute since it blew up in mid-September. He has been in regular contact with Hunt and his closest aides, and attended a number of meetings at which Hunt and NHS Employers have decided how to respond to junior doctors’ demands. The DH has kept him fully and regularly briefed on the dispute. | The Guardian understands that Nick Seddon, David Cameron’s health adviser, has been closely involved in the DH’s handling of the dispute since it blew up in mid-September. He has been in regular contact with Hunt and his closest aides, and attended a number of meetings at which Hunt and NHS Employers have decided how to respond to junior doctors’ demands. The DH has kept him fully and regularly briefed on the dispute. |
| Seddon was deputy director of the free market thinktank Reform until he became Cameron’s adviser on health policy in 2013. Reform has advocated privatising NHS services and charging patients for access to basic NHS care, such as visits to a GP, to help boost its income. | Seddon was deputy director of the free market thinktank Reform until he became Cameron’s adviser on health policy in 2013. Reform has advocated privatising NHS services and charging patients for access to basic NHS care, such as visits to a GP, to help boost its income. |
| Related: Junior doctors likely to strike as government talks falter | Related: Junior doctors likely to strike as government talks falter |
| The DH insisted on Sunday night that Seddon was not involved in helping to draw up the latest offer, which they hope will lead to the BMA calling off industrial action. One DH official said that, while Seddon was aware of what was happening across the whole health brief including the talks with the BMA, he was not now directly involved behind the scenes. | The DH insisted on Sunday night that Seddon was not involved in helping to draw up the latest offer, which they hope will lead to the BMA calling off industrial action. One DH official said that, while Seddon was aware of what was happening across the whole health brief including the talks with the BMA, he was not now directly involved behind the scenes. |
| One source with knowledge of the peace talks said Seddon had kept a very close eye on the developing dispute over recent months on the prime minister’s behalf as it became a major controversy because it involves a key Conservative election manifesto pledge, namely the creation of a seven-day NHS by 2020. | One source with knowledge of the peace talks said Seddon had kept a very close eye on the developing dispute over recent months on the prime minister’s behalf as it became a major controversy because it involves a key Conservative election manifesto pledge, namely the creation of a seven-day NHS by 2020. |
| A DH spokeswoman would only say: “We have been making good progress with the BMA, and look forward to further discussions in the new year. As we have consistently said, talks are always better than strikes and we are prepared to talk about anything within the pay envelope as long as we improve patient safety by moving towards a seven-day NHS. Our proposals offer better basic pay and safety for junior doctors, with a shorter working week.” | A DH spokeswoman would only say: “We have been making good progress with the BMA, and look forward to further discussions in the new year. As we have consistently said, talks are always better than strikes and we are prepared to talk about anything within the pay envelope as long as we improve patient safety by moving towards a seven-day NHS. Our proposals offer better basic pay and safety for junior doctors, with a shorter working week.” |
| NHS Employers and the DH have been working to see what more they can offer the BMA’s junior doctors committee to help allay its fears. Three weeks of talks in the run-up to Christmas failed to answer several concerns, prompting the BMA’s ultimatum. | NHS Employers and the DH have been working to see what more they can offer the BMA’s junior doctors committee to help allay its fears. Three weeks of talks in the run-up to Christmas failed to answer several concerns, prompting the BMA’s ultimatum. |
| Issues still to be resolved include Hunt’s plan to scrap the system of automatic annual pay rises for junior doctors, how to stop hospitals forcing them to work dangerously long hours and the demarcation of the periods of the week for which they receive only basic pay for working as opposed to overtime. | Issues still to be resolved include Hunt’s plan to scrap the system of automatic annual pay rises for junior doctors, how to stop hospitals forcing them to work dangerously long hours and the demarcation of the periods of the week for which they receive only basic pay for working as opposed to overtime. |
| Also under review is Hunt’s plan for hospital trusts to no longer face automatic fines for overworking junior doctors and for the Care Quality Commission, the NHS regulator, to instead supervise working hours and investigate complaints. Junior doctors’ leaders say this is as important an issue for them as pay and working hours. | Also under review is Hunt’s plan for hospital trusts to no longer face automatic fines for overworking junior doctors and for the Care Quality Commission, the NHS regulator, to instead supervise working hours and investigate complaints. Junior doctors’ leaders say this is as important an issue for them as pay and working hours. |
| The Guardian revealed last week that if Monday’s talks failed, junior doctors are set to stage their first walkout on 13 January and only provide cover for medical emergencies in areas such as A&E and emergency surgery, possibly for 24 hours. That is likely to be followed by two further days of industrial action in which they do not work at all between 9am and 5pm. | The Guardian revealed last week that if Monday’s talks failed, junior doctors are set to stage their first walkout on 13 January and only provide cover for medical emergencies in areas such as A&E and emergency surgery, possibly for 24 hours. That is likely to be followed by two further days of industrial action in which they do not work at all between 9am and 5pm. |
| Well-placed sources say that NHS Employers and the DH are very serious about addressing the areas of disagreement, are prepared to make further compromises to boost the chances of a deal and have been working hard over the festive break to identify what more they can offer. | Well-placed sources say that NHS Employers and the DH are very serious about addressing the areas of disagreement, are prepared to make further compromises to boost the chances of a deal and have been working hard over the festive break to identify what more they can offer. |
| For its part, the BMA has reiterated its threat to strike unless their concerns are met. In a message posted on a junior doctors’ Facebook site at the weekend, Dr Johann Malawana, the chair of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, said: “On Monday we will be hoping that the government will have taken on board and addressed our legitimate concerns. I am truly hoping that we will not be forced to once again test our unity and resolve. However, I know from the messages so many of you have sent, that should the need arise, we will stand together for ourselves and for the next generation of our colleagues.” | For its part, the BMA has reiterated its threat to strike unless their concerns are met. In a message posted on a junior doctors’ Facebook site at the weekend, Dr Johann Malawana, the chair of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, said: “On Monday we will be hoping that the government will have taken on board and addressed our legitimate concerns. I am truly hoping that we will not be forced to once again test our unity and resolve. However, I know from the messages so many of you have sent, that should the need arise, we will stand together for ourselves and for the next generation of our colleagues.” |
| He added that, when talks resume, “we hope that the government is able to come back with a greater -understanding of how important junior doctors feel about the future of the NHS they work in”. | He added that, when talks resume, “we hope that the government is able to come back with a greater -understanding of how important junior doctors feel about the future of the NHS they work in”. |
| The government must hope that BMA negotiators are ready to compromise too and that, if there is a strike, it proves to be a one-off “token” stoppage, followed by further talks. | The government must hope that BMA negotiators are ready to compromise too and that, if there is a strike, it proves to be a one-off “token” stoppage, followed by further talks. |
| However, the union has already begun seeking legal advice about balloting its 38,000 junior doctor members for a second time about further industrial action that could last until the summer. | However, the union has already begun seeking legal advice about balloting its 38,000 junior doctor members for a second time about further industrial action that could last until the summer. |
| The first ballot, in November, found that 98% of the 76% who returned their ballot paper backed strike action. | The first ballot, in November, found that 98% of the 76% who returned their ballot paper backed strike action. |