Former Conservative health minister criticises reforms to junior doctors’ contracts

MP Dr Dan Poulter, who was a minister at the Department of Health between 2012 and 2015, has said that junior doctors are “rightly upset” about possible cuts to their pay.

He added that the Government’s proposed new contract will discourage junior doctors from choosing careers in areas that are going through recruitment problems.

The new contract, which will come into force in 2016, will reduce take-home pay for junior doctors by as much as 15%, leaving doctors open to increased working hours and possibly endangering patient safety.

Dr Poulter said that the contract “raises the prospect of 90-hour weeks being written into rotas”, adding that this is “impossible to reconcile … with safe patient care.”

A spokesman from the Department of Health has said that the concerns are unfounded, saying “These claims are incorrect. Our proposals will mean average pay will not go down and there is no intention to increase working hours. In fact, we want to offer more safeguards over total hours worked for junior doctors than ever before. We call on the Junior Doctors Committee to re-enter negotiations and work with us to put in place a new contract that’s safe for patients and fair for doctors.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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