A modern NHS is in doctors’ interests
Even at this late stage the British Medical Association (BMA) must see sense and call off the industrial action among junior doctors that is planned from tomorrow. It is unconscionable for a body representing the medical profession to behave like some old-fashioned militant trade union. The BMA has sought to give the impression that this dispute is about upholding the principles of the NHS and protecting patients. In reality it is about defending the pay and conditions of members and it would be more honest for it to say so. The concerns junior doctors feel about the money they might lose as a result of the new contract proposed by Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, are genuine. But they should not try to gull the public into thinking they are guided by some higher motive.
Indeed, it is perverse of the BMA to claim that the Government is jeopardising the NHS with its new contractual proposals while putting the health of patients at risk in order to prove the point. It is also hard to take seriously those who maintain they are the staunch defenders of the NHS threatening to relocate abroad.
What is especially worrying is how this action is rapidly becoming political, as Boris Johnson observes on the opposite page. Supporters of Momentum, a hard-Left organisation established to underpin Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, are planning to join doctors on picket lines. Furthermore, comments made by some BMA leaders have been more about taking a stand against the Conservative Government than pursuing their grievances.
No one doubts that most junior doctors are dedicated professionals who work long hours and deserve to be paid well. But they also have fulfilling careers, levels of job security denied to many professions and promotion prospects that will take them into the bracket of high earners.
The Government wants the NHS to reflect the needs of the modern consumer-oriented world. To do this within public-spending constraints means doctors will have to adapt to the roster requirements of a round-the-clock, seven-days-a week service. It is in their long-term interests, and those of the country, that they do so. Once industrial action begins, intransigency and bitterness will damage the very institution whose values the doctors purport to champion.