Junior Doctors’ Contract Negotiations Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Tania Mathias
Main Page: Tania Mathias (Conservative - Twickenham)Department Debates - View all Tania Mathias's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
Junior Doctors’ Contract Negotiations
Tania Mathias Excerpts(8 years, 9 months ago)
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Ben Gummer
The hon. Gentleman tempts me with kindness, and I repay the compliment. However, having been involved in this process for some months now, I have found it incredibly frustrating. Up to the end of November, every time we asked the BMA to come and talk to us, it refused, despite personal entreaties. And when it did talk to us, we often found that we had nailed down an agreement only to find it slipping out of our fingers the next day in front of the media. This has been a hugely frustrating and difficult process for everyone concerned—not only for us but for the junior doctors, who have been left confounded and confused by the whole thing.
Dr Tania Mathias (Twickenham) (Con)
Does the Minister agree that most, if not all, junior doctors exceed their contracted hours and that a 72-hour limit is therefore essential? Will he also acknowledge that, even after the negotiations are complete, many junior doctors will continue to exceed their contracted hours?
Ben Gummer
Some junior doctors exceed their contractual hours. The average across the service is 48 hours, but some are working as many as 91, which is the current permitted limit outside the working time directive. We wish to stop that altogether and bring it down to an absolute maximum of 72 hours a week, which would equate to a 48-hour average over the agreed period, which is currently six months. The key is to get the number of hours down, because working excessive hours is unsafe for patients and for doctors.