BMA - Junior doctors' leader attacks NHS reform for its own sake -26 Apr 08

• Extract from : http://tinyurl.com/3jqqmg

NHS reorganisation has been “driven by political expediency, not the fundamental needs of patients and those who care for them” the chairman of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee will say today (Saturday 26 April, 2008).

In a speech to the BMA’s annual conference of junior doctors, Mr Ram Moorthy will criticise NHS reform “for its own sake” and call on the government to respect junior doctors rather than treating them as a “nuisance”.

The conference will vote on motions calling for the BMA to take action on the withdrawal of free accommodation for new medical graduates. Mr Moorthy will attack the move, saying that doctors and medical students are “angry, disillusioned and upset that they will suffer an effective 20% pay cut.”

The speech will highlight growing concerns about the “bulge” of doctors who will be hit by high competition for training posts next month. Latest figures for England indicate that 18,000 doctors have applied to around 8,800 posts with competition ratios as high as 25 to one in some specialties.

Mr Moorthy will warn that problems may lie ahead with this year’s recruitment process following the disastrous Modernising Medical Careers reforms last year, and that doctors’ anger is “simmering under the surface”.

He will say:

• “We are vital providers of care, and need training throughout our careers. Reform for reform’s sake must stop, or the casualties of short term thinking will continue to be those that the NHS depends on.
• “Junior doctors feel that they are not viewed as dedicated professionals who embrace a difficult role, and make decisions of fundamental importance.
• “They keep the service running, working anti-social hours, covering gaps in the rota, whilst always ensuring that patients receive the high quality care they deserve and expect.
• “Instead junior doctors are made to feel like a nuisance, a problem to be “got round” by employers and government.
• “We need not only unity in the profession, but respect from the civil servants and the managers, an acknowledgement that we are all on the same side, striving for an excellent service for patients.
• “My call to those who run the NHS and its organisations is: ‘We are professionals, respect us as such. Show us trust and we will show you trust back. Allow us to treat patients as they should be treated and we will respect you for it.’”

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•  BMAtv : Speech by JDC chairman to junior doctors conference - Duration 06:50  - www.youtube.com/user/BMAtv

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