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Medical leaders call for arbitration to resolve junior doctors’ dispute Medical leaders call for arbitration to resolve junior doctors’ dispute
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Academy of Medical Royal Colleges urges unions and ministers to speak to third party over strikes in England In rare move Academy of Medical Royal Colleges urges unions and ministers to speak to third party over strikes in England
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Medical leaders have called for third-party arbitration to break the impasse on a pay dispute between junior doctors and the government after hundreds of thousands of procedures and appointments were cancelled as a result of last week’s strike in England.Medical leaders have called for third-party arbitration to break the impasse on a pay dispute between junior doctors and the government after hundreds of thousands of procedures and appointments were cancelled as a result of last week’s strike in England.
The “colossal impact” of the four-day stoppage compounded by a health service already stretched by the coronavirus pandemic and facing workplace shortages has led the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) to intervene and urge both parties to engage with an independent organisation.The “colossal impact” of the four-day stoppage compounded by a health service already stretched by the coronavirus pandemic and facing workplace shortages has led the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) to intervene and urge both parties to engage with an independent organisation.
The AoMRC, the membership body for the UK and Ireland’s 24 medical royal colleges and faculties, said in a statement it was “concerned that a solution has not yet been reached and about the anticipated impact on NHS services and patients that will potentially follow any future action”.The AoMRC, the membership body for the UK and Ireland’s 24 medical royal colleges and faculties, said in a statement it was “concerned that a solution has not yet been reached and about the anticipated impact on NHS services and patients that will potentially follow any future action”.
It added: “Both parties need to rapidly engage with an independent organisation to work out how the deadlock can be broken for the sake of patients and the wider NHS.”It added: “Both parties need to rapidly engage with an independent organisation to work out how the deadlock can be broken for the sake of patients and the wider NHS.”
The call for intervention came after the junior doctors’ union last week asked the conciliation service Acas to explore ways of breaking the deadlock over their demand for a 35% pay rise. The rare call for intervention came after the junior doctors’ union last week asked the conciliation service Acas to explore ways of breaking the deadlock over their demand for a 35% pay rise.
The co-chairs of the British Medical Association’s junior doctors committee said it was the government and the health secretary, Steve Barclay, who were putting up barriers to talks. “This dispute, which nobody wants – the doctors are suffering too – it needs to be brought to a conclusion and before you can even start to have negotiations you have to have preliminary talks,” Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard told BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme.
“Unlike the government we have no preconditions and have repeatedly asked the secretary of state to meet with us. We recently reached out to Acas to offer a route to get us around the table if that’s what it takes – and this intervention from the academy puts further pressure on the health secretary and government, highlighting how unreasonable they are being,” Vivek Trivedi and Rob Laurenson said on Thursday. It has been seven years since the AoMRC made such interventions to industrial action. “I’m gravely concerned,” added Stokes-Lampard, who is also a frontline practitioner. “All of us are hurting, all of us want a resolution to this, all of us want our NHS in a better place.”
“Barclay’s inability to meet us without preconditions shows a lack of commitment to resolving this dispute, whereas we will meet Acas to discuss how to have positive talks at any time.” The British Medical Association chair, Philip Banfield, said he is “fairly amused” by how the workforce is seen as a cost rather than an investment.
“This is a political decision to run the NHS down and the junior doctors sadly have been driven to this point,” Banfield told the BBC, emphasising it is chronic underfunding and running down of the workforce has led to the service’s longest waiting lists.
“There is no number that is set in stone here, it is the principle of restoring pay that has been lost in its value,” he added referring to demands for a 35% pay raise. Banfield said it is “absolutely bizarre” in nine months he’s not had a face-to-face meeting with the health secretary, Steve Barclay.
“I’m afraid his door doesn’t appear to be open.”
The NHS’s national medical director, Prof Sir Stephen Powis, said every postponed appointment had an effect on individuals, services and an already exhausted workforce. Nurses, who said strikes could continue until Christmas, are gearing up to stop work again on 30 April and have not ruled out joining forces with junior doctors in future.The NHS’s national medical director, Prof Sir Stephen Powis, said every postponed appointment had an effect on individuals, services and an already exhausted workforce. Nurses, who said strikes could continue until Christmas, are gearing up to stop work again on 30 April and have not ruled out joining forces with junior doctors in future.
The president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, which represents A&E staff and patients, said recent months had set a trajectory leading to the “medical catastrophe” of a worse winter than that of December 2022.The president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, which represents A&E staff and patients, said recent months had set a trajectory leading to the “medical catastrophe” of a worse winter than that of December 2022.
Adrian Boyle, an A&E consultant, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The vast majority of this is caused by a deeper, underlying problem. We’ve had seven days of junior doctor strikes but these problems have been building up for at least the last five years.”Adrian Boyle, an A&E consultant, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The vast majority of this is caused by a deeper, underlying problem. We’ve had seven days of junior doctor strikes but these problems have been building up for at least the last five years.”
The length of stays in emergency departments is much worse when compared with the same period last year, he said, due to full hospitals. Many more people, predominately elderly patients, are spending longer in hospitals, and ambulances are waiting outside emergency departments unable to hand over patients.The length of stays in emergency departments is much worse when compared with the same period last year, he said, due to full hospitals. Many more people, predominately elderly patients, are spending longer in hospitals, and ambulances are waiting outside emergency departments unable to hand over patients.
Hospital capacity needed to be expanded, said Boyle, referring to the need for an increased workforce and more hospital beds.Hospital capacity needed to be expanded, said Boyle, referring to the need for an increased workforce and more hospital beds.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The health and social care secretary has been clear his door is open and he remains willing to engage constructively, but a 35% pay rise, which would involve some junior doctors receiving £20,000, is unreasonable. Strike action also needs to be paused for formal talks to begin.”A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The health and social care secretary has been clear his door is open and he remains willing to engage constructively, but a 35% pay rise, which would involve some junior doctors receiving £20,000, is unreasonable. Strike action also needs to be paused for formal talks to begin.”