Will Doctors Walk Out?

Are doctors going to stage a 1970s-style walkout this year?

16:30 05 November 2015

The junior doctors saga continues and the only question left right now is if they’re going to stage a 1970s-style walkout this year that could very well hurt the NHS.

 

Jeremy Hunt has reduced the previously rejected offer of 15per cent hike in basic rate down to 11per cent. In the new contract, 7am to 7pm on a Saturday will be counted as regular working hours. Whitehall sources say that over the next four years the policy is cost-neutral meaning that it will not cost more or less than what would have been the case if the existing deal had continued. Although the majority of doctors are not expected to see any pay reduction, 1per cent of them who are currently working up to 91 hours a week will earn less if the new contract is implemented.

 

Mr Hunt says that the current contract has a disincentive for hospitals to employ more junior doctors on Saturdays and Sundays. However, the BMA argued that the new proposals will remove the financial sanction that deters employers from making staff work even longer hours.

 

Meanwhile, senior government sources say that there is a possibility that junior doctors may stage a strike over the issue.