This is why junior doctors are threatening to go on strike in December
The Government has conceded the union is likely to take action against the proposed plan, and it is believed the strike will result in hospitals only providing emergency care on 1 December, followed by an 8am – 5pm walk-out on 8 December and 16 December.
Joshua Rubenstein, a 28-year-old junior doctor, told The Independent: “I am striking because I don’t want to see this unsafe and unfair contract imposed on us. I am concerned about the removal of financial penalties against trusts who overwork their junior doctors.
“Without these, I worry Trusts will not take steps to avoid juniors working excessive hours – this would be unsafe for patients. Secondly, weekend working is possible in the context of the current contract – I worked 4 in every 6 weekends during my A+E job.
“The government wants juniors to provide services at lowest possible cost. This is at a time of record level student debt, as well as students having to self-fund a fair chunk of our training – I’ve spent close to £4000 on courses, exams and professional fees this year.
“I don’t really want a strike to go ahead – although I have no concerns about patient safety, because our consultant colleagues will cover our for us. I’m hoping the threat of a strike will pressure the government to drop their unreasonable preconditions to negotations with the BMA.”
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The Tories should hang their heads in shame what they are doing to our once wonderful country. Evil to the core
The government and I include labour with that are hell bent on privatising health care, labour were as culpable as the tories with imposing PFI deals and outsourcing services to private contractors.
Haven’t you read what This Blog has to say about Labour and PFI?
In brief: The Tory Government of 1979-97 left the nation’s finances in a terrible state. They had not “fixed the roof while the sun was shining” but had instead run down state funds to the point where it was not possible to inject the huge, required, investments into the NHS and the education system without borrowing hugely. But Labour had promised to follow Conservative spending plans for the first part of what became the 1997-2001 Parliament. So Treasury officials put forward PFI – a funding model that had been tried under John Major’s government – as a solution. Without any other – viable – alternatives, Labour had to take what was on offer.
Hindsight would suggest this was a bad thing.
But we have working hospitals and usable schools that would not have been there without PFI.
It was a stop-gap solution that was only used because the Tories had fouled the finances up as badly as they had, and any responsible government now would be renegotiating the contracts, but it was a matter of necessity at the time.