Deputy Chairman of the Junior Doctors Committee
Mr Paul Thorpe
Tuesday 2 July
(in place of the Chairman of Junior Doctors Committee’s Speech)
RB, you will note that I am not another member of the BMA family of Pickersgills. I bring apologies from Trevor who has been called away urgently and he regrets you have to suffer one of his deputies.
This has been a busy year for the junior doctors committee. We have continued to fight for full implementation of the juniors contract and finally, in the face of typical resistance and attempts to weasel out of agreements by the DoH, secured implementation of a deal for flexible trainees.
We have commenced a major campaign to evoke fair treatment for juniors in the workplace – and have already been able to help many juniors who have fallen foul of abusive employers.
We have prioritised an exercise of constitutional reform to ensure the best connection with the members we represent.
We are faced with an even busier year
Henceforth:
We are reassured that the SHO modernisation report will be available ‘within a week’ – along with “the cheques’s in the post” and “all consultants will rise to the top of the new salary scale” we don’t hold our breath on that promise! When it does arrive, if it contains proposals for a dead end service grade, that will become a further repository for doctors discriminated against, with only “professors pet” cherry picked for further training? – we will robustly oppose it.
This brings me to the subconsultant grade – we have heard in the open debate about the attempts to create a politically driven grade of doctors in a vulnerable and disenfranchised position. The most upsetting aspect of this is that it is driven by members of our own profession who wish to keep themselves in bed at night at the expense of junior colleagues.
Let me say this: A CCST is what it says – a certificate of completion of specialist training. The JDC will continue to fight for this principle and for training that is fit for purpose, of appropriate length to deliver the consultants by whom the public wish to be treated.
We also have to face the European Working Time Directive. For 3 years the JDC, through the BMA has been driving this issue as the most important facing the health service. We have finally dragged the Government kicking and screaming to the reality table – although the minister for the health of Barrow–in–Furness still wishes to duck the issue of service reconfiguration. We want to continue to work to ensure maximum flexibility combined with fit for purpose training within the health and safety protection of the directive.
RB, I want to thank the JDC members for making it an active, vibrant and democratic committee.
I want to thank the secretariat who give their unflinching and sterling support to us in our many hours of need.
And I want to extend a personal vote of thanks to Trevor, who in is his many years of hard work for JDC and the wider BMA has proved himself an excellent leader of junior doctors.