Walkouts over imposition of contract will be first time in NHS history that junior doctors refuse to supply emergency cover Who is striking this week and why?An unknown number of the 45000 junior doctors in England will strike between 8am and 5pm on Tuesday and the same time on Wednesday. This is a significant escalation of the increasingly bitter dispute that has been going since September between Jeremy Hunt,the health secretary, and the British Medical organization, and the doctors’ union.
The flashpoint is the new contract that Hunt intends to impose on junior doctors – all those below the level of consultant starting this August. On-and-off talks over the past three years fill failed to produce final agreement on the revised terms and conditions the health secretary wants trainee doctors to work under as a key element of introducing the “truly seven-day NHS the Conservatives promised during last year’s general election.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com