BOA statement on the proposed new junior doctor contract

The British Orthopaedic Association is acutely aware of and fully shares the concerns surrounding the new contract for all junior doctors in England, and the effect this will have on our already over stretched workforce.

The Secretary of State for Health’s proposals for junior doctors risk creating a disproportionately challenging and therefore unsustainable working environment. The proposals would also significantly compromise their training and education needs.

The Surgical Royal Colleges have expressed their concerns in regard to the potential impact on surgeons in training: for those who deliver out of hours care this would be a particularly serious issue. Our key shared priority now and in the future – is patient safety and the quality of care provided. Under no circumstances should that key priority be compromised by employment contractual issues especially where those contractual issues have been poorly thought through.

It is vital that the NHS is able to recruit and more importantly retain doctors: the proposed changes would deeply risk demoralising the workforce. Furthermore, the intrinsic reward from being a doctor has been progressively eroded by terms and conditions of service, the slavish application of working time directives, and now salary scales and pensions: as a consequence many fewer UK medical graduates are seeking to further their training in medicine in general and surgery in particular. 

While we deplore the prospect of industrial action by junior doctors we acknowledge that:

• This outcome was inevitable given the Department of Health’s unduly obdurate stance;
• Junior doctors were left with no alternative as a consequence;
• Patients’ care and needs will be met by their senior colleagues;
• It is inevitable that the impact of consultants shouldering the added burden will impact adversely on the throughput of elective cases since T&O consultants will have to concentrate on treating the Emergency patients.

We call upon the Department of Health urgently to reconsider the planned changes, engage more productively with the BMA, and work together with doctors in order to deliver the best care to our patients and the NHS now and for years to come.