Junior doctors threaten to boycott Hunt’s morale review
Anational reviewof junior doctors’ morale ordered by Jeremy Hunt has been cast into doubt after an influential body of trainee medics threatened to withdraw their cooperation.
The Health Secretary announced the review on the same day he imposed a controversial new contract on junior doctors. It will be led by Professor Dame Sue Bailey, chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC), an umbrella group representing the influential medical professional bodies.
However, junior doctors were dismayed when it was revealed earlier this week that the review would have no remit to investigate how trainee medics’ “pay or terms and conditions of service” were affecting morale.
Now the academy’s own Trainee Doctors’ Group (ATDG), composed of junior doctor representatives of each medical royal college, have said theywill not participate unless the terms of reference are changed to reflect the impact that pay, terms and conditions are having on morale. It is understood that the terms of the review, which require a Department of Health sign-off, are being reconsidered.
In a leaked document seen by TheIndependent, theATDG states that, after a meeting to discuss the review on Thursday, it could not accept the terms of reference, and would not recommend thewiderparticipation of junior doctors.
“The exclusion of pay and particularly the exclusion of terms and conditions from any discussion of morale and wellbeing will render a review unable to discuss both problems and potential solutions that have a significant impact on morale and recruitment and retention,” the document states.
It also warns that a review conducted at a time of industrial action “risks producing a report with significant bias” and urges the Government to withdraw from its imposition of the new contract.
Contacted following the leak, DrJon Bailey, chairman of the ATDG, said the document was not group’s final position, but reiterated concerns that “the current terms of reference could exclude from the outset some potential causes of low morale which would need to be fully considered in order to deliver a comprehensive review”.
He added: “The ATDG would be happy to participate in a review that encompasses all causes of low morale and wellbeing among junior doctors, at a time when the profession is not engaged in industrial action.”
The BMA confirmed this week that they would continue to fight the imposition of the new contract, with six more junior doctor strikes in the spring. Doctors are concerned that cuts to weekend pay included in the new contract will hit their overall salaries, and also fear that they will have to work more night and evening shifts. The Department of Health and NHS Employers says this would not be the case.
Dr Johann Malawana, chair of the BMA’s junior doctor committee, said this week that medics had “considerable concerns” about the “impartiality, remit and output of the [morale] review” launched by Mr Hunt.