Health Secretary told to ‘stop trying to divide’ doctors
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The British Medical Association (BMA) has told Health Secretary Victoria Atkins to “stop trying to divide” the profession and “turn her focus to getting back around the table” with junior doctors.
It comes after Ms Atkins suggested some medics are “deeply uncomfortable” about the timing of strikes.
Junior doctors in England are on the second day of a 72-hour walkout and are due to return to work at 7am on December 23.
They will also strike for six days from January 3, the longest spell of industrial action in the NHS’s history.
Ms Atkins told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday: “There will be many, many doctors listening to this who feel deeply uncomfortable that their committee has called these strikes at this time. I would encourage anyone who feels like that quietly to consider whether this committee is in fact representing their views.
“I know, for example, that consultants and nurses and other doctors who aren’t on strike are, today and yesterday, and will be over January, coming in, doing extra shifts to ensure that that level of care is provided for patients.
“They are being expected by the junior doctors’ committee to pick up the slack of their strikes.”
We did not walk away from negotiations and we are happy to talk to Ms Atkins at any time
BMA junior doctors committee co-chairmen, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, said: “It’s disappointing after what we felt was an improved tone and approach from Ms Atkins, compared with that of her predecessor, that she appears to have a different recollection of our discussions.
“Throughout negotiations with the Government we had a mutually agreed deadline for them to make a credible offer. This deadline passed and we were therefore forced to call strikes.
“We did not walk away from negotiations and we are happy to talk to Ms Atkins at any time. It is the Government’s insistence that they will not talk while strikes are scheduled that is blocking progress and wasting unnecessary time.
“We appeal directly to Ms Atkins and the Government to drop this precondition and get back around the table.”
They said BMA mandates “are derived from democratic votes”, while members of the junior doctors committee “are working junior doctors, elected by their peers and are engaging with thousands of colleagues across the country on a daily basis, and the profession remains united in support”.
“The Health Secretary says she wants to ‘get this done’,” Dr Laurenson and Dr Trivedi said.
“If she is serious about this, she should stop trying to divide the profession and instead turn her focus to getting back around the table with us.”
The strike was called earlier this month after weeks of talks with ministers.
The BMA wants full pay restoration for its members, which the Government said would amount to a 35% pay rise and is unaffordable.
Consultant members of the BMA are voting on an offer from the Government, as are specialist, associate specialist and specialty doctors.
