Jeremy Hunt acted illegally over junior doctors, court hears | The Guardian

Last Updated: September 20, 2016By

160904 junior doctor NHS strike explained

Jeremy Hunt acted illegally and beyond his powers by deciding to impose a new contract on NHS junior doctors, the high court has been told in a legal challenge to the health secretary’s handling of the year-long dispute.

The court on Monday began a two-day judicial review of the legal challenge to Hunt brought by five junior doctors.

Their group, Justice for Health, claims that the health secretary has acted ultra vires (beyond his powers) by choosing to force new terms and conditions on 54,000 trainee medics in England despite their overwhelming opposition.

A barrister leading Hunt’s legal team told the judge, Mr Justice Green, that there was no evidence that NHS employers did not want the contract and that the claim was “wholly without substance”.

Hunt suffered an early setback when the judge rejected a claim by his counsel, Clive Sheldon QC, in pre-hearing legal argument that Justice for Health’s claims should be thrown out. Refusing Sheldon’s plea, [the judge] said at the outset of the first session of legal argument that “this is plainly a serious case” which, in his view, “requires full judicial review”.

Jenni Richards QC, for Justice for Health, said that while Hunt was entitled to recommend a contract, he did not have the power to impose one. The health secretary had “acted in breach” of his “requirements of transparency, certainty and clarity” and behaved “irrationally”, she told the court.

The junior doctors claim that, despite stating publicly when the dispute began last year that he was imposing the contract, Hunt had then switched tack and insisted he had merely made a non-binding recommendation that revised conditions of employment.

Richards also claimed that Hunt had ignored a series of studies of mortality rates among patients admitted to hospital when he began claiming in July 2015 that as many as 11,000 patients a year admitted on a Saturday or Sunday die unnecessarily because too few doctors are on duty – the “weekend effect”.

[The judge] planned to issue his judgment on 28 September, he said, days before junior doctors across England are due to take part in the first five-day strike in the long-running dispute. The strike is planned to start on 5 October, the day the contract is due to be imposed on all trainee doctors below consultant level. The six previous walkouts held since January have lasted one or two days.

Source: Jeremy Hunt acted illegally over junior doctors, court hears | Law | The Guardian

ADVERT




Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(
but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Donate Button with Credit Cards

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

HWG PrintHWG eBook

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

SWAHTprint SWAHTeBook

latest video

news via inbox

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

4 Comments

  1. lin wren September 20, 2016 at 12:43 am - Reply

    The Conservatives are catching ***it* wherever they turn. Court cases going against left right n centre. They are becoming undone because of Cameron’s legacy. TM will not be able to manage a full scale rebellion from the inside or out. Allowing JH to continue was an extremely stupid thing to do. Shame

  2. Sven Wraight September 20, 2016 at 12:56 am - Reply

    It’s worrying that in the last paragraph you quoted, the Grauniad’s Health Editor apparently thinks junior doctors are trainees.

  3. Dez September 20, 2016 at 9:11 am - Reply

    Jenni Richards QC, for Justice for Health, said the health secretary had “acted in breach” of his “requirements of transparency, certainty and clarity” and behaved “irrationally”, she told the court. Well she certainly captured the essence of that lying two faced Hunt……

  4. NMac September 20, 2016 at 11:47 am - Reply

    This case shows that the Tories only respect laws which benefit them. They have no respect for any law which they don’t like. It also shows that when dishonest bullies like Hunt come up against intelligent and determined people like the Junior Doctors they are shown up for the superficial and nasty people they are.

Leave A Comment