tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2580877985094646850.post4310464388910280485..comments2024-03-25T23:29:11.804-07:00Comments on Sugar and spice....wish all things were nice.: 2 words...Partha Karhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08181085644187624720noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2580877985094646850.post-12641762814781466362016-06-26T13:24:23.388-07:002016-06-26T13:24:23.388-07:00Partha. As a relatively young Consultant I am incl...Partha. As a relatively young Consultant I am inclined to agree with you as 'we' survived worse conditions(on better OOH pay) and managed to come out this end so why can't they? BUT...as many bloggers have pointed out it was a totally different NHS even 10yrs ago! The demands have shot up in the last 5yrs, the expectations are greater, there is more frailty, we've had the Financial Crash and crippling austerity in adult social care. Budgets are being squeezed, tariffs are reducing and now HMG want 7-day services...? When I was an SHO and you were an SpR, the Consultant was seen 2-3 times in the week and did 1PA (<half a day)seeing patients on call. Now we are almost ever present daily and can spend an entire 12hrs on call in Acute Medicine. So one would think that juniors have almost nothing to complain about as they are so much better supported?! Well, it's not so rosy in the real World. The increasing complexity of frailer patients, the deficiencies in IT infrastructure(in stark contrast to our smartphones & tablets), the loss of continuity of care, the non-existent firm structure, the fragmented supervision, the nonsensical shift patterns, the 'gaming' of EWTD with consequent unfilled rotas have made the lives of trainee doctors miserable. I had not mentioned the rigidly fixed annual leave; the NROC scams; the delayed release of on call rotas blocking reasonable attempts at covering for important study leave or College exams; the ambivalence of HEE towards whistle blowing protection. Okay, hear me out.<br />Contract v2 is clearly an improvement and all the JDC negotiators(including the HSJ WhatsApp leakers) should be applauded for their hard work. However, to say that 'juniors' should now accept it with the caveat that the unresolved concerns about equality, LTFT, Guardianship etc have been noted is to ask them to display a very, very high degree of trust. Politicians are felt by the general public to be untrustworthy so why should 'young' doctors who have plenty of evidence of crass, underhanded, insensitive and hypocritical behaviour from many politicians trust them? To accept "v2" because we have had Brexit and people everywhere are panicking is to capitulate. Even the senior Brexiters acknowledge that immigration would not alter radically with a Leave win. So do we now believe that if there is a NO vote that junior doctors employment will collapse overnight?! They would not be breaking away from the NHS with a NO vote. But they will disappear if a poor quality contract is imposed!<br />Apologies for not having read through every paragraph of the contracts- v1 and v2: So a few Qs. Why can't there be rota pilot schemes within Trusts and particular specialisms? Why not wait for 2 yrs before invoking NHSE's version of article 50? Do we really need to rush into this?<br />Ultimately this new contract is not even about current trainees as they are already in the system and will be seniors soon enough. Like the EU debate, thus dispute is about the future and the children who come after us. It is therefore existential and not just technical. If I were a trainee - junior or senior, I would VOTE NO.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06759742265027171435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2580877985094646850.post-650953042897224172016-06-26T03:47:55.643-07:002016-06-26T03:47:55.643-07:00Hi Partha, I am a consultant in anaesthetics and r...Hi Partha, I am a consultant in anaesthetics and read your piece with interest. One question, what was wrong with the old junior doctor contract ? Was it not safe for patients ?vhandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09372522894847006362noreply@blogger.com