Junior Doctors: Industrial Action

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 5th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Ms Abbott]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. For clarification, I must emphasise that there is no concept of giving way in respect of a statement. Although this might resemble a debate to those who are attending our proceedings from beyond the confines of the Chamber, it is a statement with a response. There are no interventions.

[Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)]

She is new to her job.

[Mr Speaker]

We are always grateful to the hon. Member for Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley) for whatever counsel he might wish to proffer, even if it is done from a sedentary position.

[Mr Hunt]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The shadow Health Secretary needs to recognise that working people, the people her party claims to represent, need a seven-day NHS. The vulnerable people that Labour claims to represent get admitted to hospital at the weekends, and in industrial disputes patients should always matter more than politics. The next time she meets a constituent who has suffered because of not having a seven-day service or because their operation has been cancelled because of a strike, she and her colleagues should hang their heads in shame.

The hon. Lady has used some very strong words. She used words such as “vilifying” and “demonising” in relation to the junior doctor workforce, and that is a very serious thing to say. I challenge her to find a single piece of evidence that has come from me or anyone in the Government, and if she cannot do so, she needs to withdraw those comments and apologise to the House. The fact is that the single most demoralising thing for the NHS workforce is strikes, because they entrench and harden positions, which results in people getting very angry, and it becomes much harder to find consensus.

The hon. Lady also talked about the use of statistics. She does not have to listen to what I say—and I understand, given the sparring that goes on between us, that she might not want to—but we have had eight academic studies in the past five years that describe increased mortality rates for people admitted to hospitals at weekends. Her response to this, in a phrase she used in another context, was that there was “zero empirical evidence” for a weekend effect. I would caution her on this, because taking that approach to hard data is exactly what happened at Mid Staffs, where hard evidence was swept under the carpet year after year because it was politically inconvenient. This Government will not make that mistake.

Finally, the hon. Lady said that my civil servants had apparently advised me that this policy would not work. Not at all. What happens with every Government policy, as you would expect, is that smart civil servants kick the tyres of every aspect of the policy to enable us to understand the risks involved. She did not mention the fact that the same document to which she referred actually says that we are on track to deliver the four clinical seven-day standards to 20% of the country by next April. I think that her constituents will welcome that, even if she does not. These strikes are going to harm patients, damage the NHS and make it harder, not easier, to resolve the challenges facing junior doctors. Labour has chosen political opportunity today, but we will do the right thing for patients.

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[Mr Speaker]

As always, I am keen to accommodate everybody who wants to take part, but I think it not unreasonable, given the relatively small number, for me to hope that we might conclude these exchanges by 10 past 7—quarter-past at the latest. Brevity is of the essence. We do not need long narratives. We just need questions and short answers. We will be led in that mission by the Chair of the Health Committee.

[Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes) (Con)]

I welcome the BMA’s suspension of next week’s damaging industrial action. It is clear from its statement that thousands of doctors had been in touch to say that they wanted to keep their patients safe. Doctors know that they cannot do so with full, rolling, five-day walkouts. Will the Secretary of State therefore join me in asking the BMA to ballot its members to hear their views before they proceed with the other proposed, damaging, five-day walkouts?

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[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

I call Dr (post-war strategic military planning) Julian Lewis.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

In other words, I am totally unqualified as a medical doctor. Therefore, may I ask a question about democratic mandates? I appreciate that, unlike a referendum, a general election does not give an entirely specific mandate on every proposal put forward, but will the Secretary of State take the opportunity to remind the House and the country of how central the proposal for a seven-day NHS was to the Conservative manifesto as far as his Department was concerned?

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[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

I was just reading an article from earlier in the year from The Guardian newspaper, which said that Saturday working is the major sticking point in the junior doctors’ dispute. Does the Secretary of State agree that any doctor who goes on strike over premium rates of pay on a Saturday, which most people in this country do not get when they work on a Saturday, should hang their heads in shame? Will he give a commitment that he will not make any further concessions, as he has already given far too many. Is it not time to look at whether we stop doctors from going on strike altogether in the NHS, as is the case with other emergency services?

[Mr Speaker]

It may be the first occasion upon which the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) has vouchsafed to the House that he is a Guardian reader.

[Mr Hunt]

I was nervous mentioning the fact that the Government have made 107 concessions when I saw that my hon. Friend might be in the Chamber because I knew that, for him, that would be 107 too many. His broader point is absolutely spot on. The working terms and conditions for Saturdays for junior doctors in this new contract are better than they are for nurses, police officers, fire officers and for those in many other parts of the economy. That is why I think it is a fair deal that everyone should recognise and welcome.

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[Mr Hunt]

I am very surprised to hear that. If my hon. Friend wants to pass me the details, I will happily look into it. On the ground, the management of hospitals are working very closely with not just junior doctors, but BMA representatives to try to do everything they can to keep patients safe if these strikes go ahead.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am most grateful to the Secretary of State and to colleagues.

Finance Bill (Programme) (No. 2)

Ordered,

That the following provisions shall apply to the Finance Bill for the purpose of supplementing the Order of 11 April 2016 in the last Session of Parliament (Finance (No. 2) Bill: Programme)):

1. Paragraphs (11) and (12) of the Order shall be omitted.

2. Proceedings on Consideration shall be taken on the days shown in the following Table and in the order so shown.

3. The proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at the times specified in the second column of the Table.