| What Tooke so long? |
| Thursday, 20 March 2008 | |
What Tooke so long?Under the banner “Reclaiming our Profession”, Remedy returned to the House of Commons for our second Mass Lobby of Parliament on Tuesday 18th March. Doctors and their families travelled from as far afield as Glasgow and Skye to attend. It was a useful opportunity to have an informal question and answer session with our many supporters in Parliament, including Norman Lamb MP (Shadow Health Sec, Lib Dem), Ian Gibson MP (Commons Health Select Committee, Lab) and Andrew Lansley MP (Shadow Health Sec, Cons).There was overwhelming agreement that we need the Tooke report implemented in full, To this end, we are calling on the Department of Health to produce Tooke Targets: a timetable for implementation. A fragmented, watered down version of the Tooke report is no good. We need this Tooke report to be implemented, we need it now, and the only way to do this is to keep the pressure on. Please ask your MP to write to Alan Johnston on your behalf, specifically asking for a timetable for the implementation of the full Tooke report (and you can contact your MP via www.writetothem.com) Another message that came through loud and clear was that there are many Trusts short of junior staff, and that Consultants are having to mop up the gaps. Norman Lamb raised this problem in the House of Commons on behalf of Remedy, and quoted a Surrey NHS Trust which ““had to run the service on several occasions without the required number of doctors”. Alan Johnson confirmed that they had at last acknowledged the problem, and are looking to see whether the nature and scale are different this year. If this affects you, or your local hospital, please make sure that your local MP is made aware of the problem. We are still pressing for special arrangements for the thousands of doctors caught in the bulge between the old and new system and for independent workforce planning. As a result of the rally and lobby two questions were asked in Health Questions. You can view the videos on the RemedyUK website. The RemedyUK JobsiteOne of the major difficulties for junior doctors this year has been not knowing where or when jobs will be advertised – a problem made worse by the fact that not only is competition fierce, but job applications must be completed and returned in record time. To make life easier for doctors, RemedyUK put together a central website where we would collate the jobs from all the Deanery, NHSJobs and BMJ Careers websites. Many of you have told us that you have found this service useful, and have found jobs on our site that you hadn’t found elsewhere.Unfortunately the BMJ have insisted that we remove all content that links to their website. We have tried to resolve this amicably. Despite this, they threatened us with legal action if we did not remove the ads linked to their site and we have complied with this. This is a shame because it temporarily affects the quality of service that we are able to bring to you. We have a plan that will return the RemedyUK site to a fully comprehensive web resource within the next 3-4 weeks. In the meantime please be aware that you will need to search both RemedyUK Jobs and BMJ Careers to catch all of the jobs. If you have found the RemedyUK jobsite useful, please tell your BMA rep and ask them to raise this with the BMA (who own the BMJ Group). Shape the future of Remedy at our first General Meeting.Remedy are having our first Annual General Meeting on Saturday April 19th at the NCVO on Regent's Canal in London.This will be an opportunity to discuss the issues which are pertinent to the medical profession, and to shape the future policies of RemedyUK. We want your input so that we know what your main concerns and priorities are, which fights you want us to be fighting, and how you think subscription money should be spent. http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/uploadedFiles/NCVO/About/NCVOcontact_map.pdf Please encourage people to attend. The venue has a maximum capacity of 120 so please book early. You can register via the RemedyUK website: http://www.remedyuk.net/index.php/RemedyUK-News/The-RemedyUK-AGM.html The AGM will be followed by a Rat Pack evening on the Thames courtesy of RemedyUK. All those attending the AGM will be entitled to 2 tickets to the evening do. Anyone who wants to come along for the evening only can purchase tickets for £10 (highly subsidised price) -75 places only, so book early via the website. It will be loads of fun, and we look forward to seeing you there. The Working Time DirectiveNobody wants to see a return to the 120+ hours worked in the past, but the switch from 56 down to 48 is going to create many new problems.A reduction in hours to 48 hrs/wk will mean that juniors spend a greater proportion of their time doing out of hours work and cross-covering unfamiliar patients. But they will spend less time in operating lists, clinics and Consultant ward rounds - essentially all the teaching opportunities. The concern is that they will not get the experience, exposure or training that are needed and that continuity of patient care will be compromised. Remedy have released a consultation document with a proposal regarding the 48hr week which will be imposed in 2009. Our proposal would be that doctors could choose to work an extra 8 hrs per week on top of the 48: “opt out” of the EWTD, to a maximum of 56. This would be on the condition that these 8 hours are spent during the day, for example: one half day theatre list and one clinic. This would be voluntary, as all jobs (by law) must be offered on the basis of 48 hrs/wk - anyone wanting to stick with 48 hrs will be able to do so. This is a controversial idea, so we really need to know how people feel about it. At this stage it is purely a consultation document. Please read it at http://www.remedyuk.net/index.php/Issue-1/RemedyUK-News/The-Barbados-Plan.html and send us your thoughts. Is a Deanery an Employment Agency?The Employment Agencies Act 1973 requires Agencies to give applicants important information, such as their likely salary and their place of work. It defines an Employment Agency as a business (whether or not carried on with a view to profit and whether or not carried on in conjunction with any other business) of providing services (whether by the provision of information or otherwise) for the purpose of finding persons employment with employers or of supplying employers with persons for employment by them.At first sight it would appear that Deaneries should be included within this definition. However there are a series of exemptions in the Act, one of which is ‘An employment panel ‘controlled by ... one or more universities'. We think that this may be the reason why Deaneries are not covered by the Act. However the relationship between Deaneries, Universities, SHAs and Trusts is a very obscure one and we cannot be sure about this. Can anyone shed any more light on this? Has PMETB held you back?We have received complaints from Trainees who have been unable to apply for jobs because PMETB have failed to process their CCT paperwork in time. Doctors have alleged that they have been unable to take up jobs because bureaucrats have spent too long in processing applications (though they seem to take no time at all in cashing the applicant’s cheques).We have discussed this with our legal team, who feel that if an application had taken an unreasonably long time to process then PMETB could be guilty of ‘negligent failure to act by a public body’. If this claim were upheld by a Court then they could potentially be liable for loss of earnings or other unspecified damages. We are looking for individuals who may have such a case, with a view to taking mass action. If you or a colleague have been affected by this then please write in confidence to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone our office for advice. Burn baby burn: the future of RemedyTime and money are running out. Without your support, we won’t be around a year from now. Our Lobby was attended by half as many people this year compared to last year. We understand the battle-weariness and general despondency but we still want to fight for the rights of doctors. There is still a lot to be done, but we cannot do it without support.Our meetings are held in London every Monday evening and are open to all. Please come along and get involved. Remedy urgently needs to expand its membership so that we can carry on campaigning. Full membership is only £96 a year, payable in monthly instalments, which is substantially cheaper than the GMC. If you are not presently paying a subscription then please visit our website and fill in a direct debit. Happy Easter. |