This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/26/jeremy-hunt-history-will-judge-me-seven-day-nhs-junior-doctors-strike
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Jeremy Hunt: history will judge me on delivering seven-day NHS | Jeremy Hunt: history will judge me on delivering seven-day NHS |
| (4 months later) | |
| Jeremy Hunt has insisted he has no intention of backing down in the junior doctors’ strike, saying his post as health secretary is likely to be his last big job in politics, and history will judge him on his ability to deliver a seven-day NHS. | Jeremy Hunt has insisted he has no intention of backing down in the junior doctors’ strike, saying his post as health secretary is likely to be his last big job in politics, and history will judge him on his ability to deliver a seven-day NHS. |
| Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on what he called a “bleak day” for the NHS, Hunt said: “This is likely to be my last big job in politics, and the one thing that would keep me awake [at night] is if I didn’t do the right thing to help make the NHS one of the safest, highest quality health services in the world.” | Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on what he called a “bleak day” for the NHS, Hunt said: “This is likely to be my last big job in politics, and the one thing that would keep me awake [at night] is if I didn’t do the right thing to help make the NHS one of the safest, highest quality health services in the world.” |
| As junior doctors joined picket lines up and down the country for Tuesday’s all-out strike, Hunt said he remained confident he was in the right. “Health secretaries are never popular. But what history judges is, did you take the tough and difficult decisions that enable the NHS to deliver high-quality care for patients? For me, that’s what it’s about.” | As junior doctors joined picket lines up and down the country for Tuesday’s all-out strike, Hunt said he remained confident he was in the right. “Health secretaries are never popular. But what history judges is, did you take the tough and difficult decisions that enable the NHS to deliver high-quality care for patients? For me, that’s what it’s about.” |
| He insisted he was offering doctors a fair deal, asking: “Is it proportionate or appropriate to be withdrawing emergency care from patients who depend on them so much?” | He insisted he was offering doctors a fair deal, asking: “Is it proportionate or appropriate to be withdrawing emergency care from patients who depend on them so much?” |
| By refusing to provide emergency care as part of their latest walkout, junior doctors are escalating their programme of industrial action, as Hunt battles to push through changes to contracts aimed at making it easier to staff hospitals at weekends. | By refusing to provide emergency care as part of their latest walkout, junior doctors are escalating their programme of industrial action, as Hunt battles to push through changes to contracts aimed at making it easier to staff hospitals at weekends. |
| The strike is running from 8am to 5pm on Tuesday and Wednesday. A&E and maternity units will be staffed almost entirely by senior consultants. | The strike is running from 8am to 5pm on Tuesday and Wednesday. A&E and maternity units will be staffed almost entirely by senior consultants. |
| Junior doctors believe that if the new contract is imposed, they will be insufficiently compensated for unusual working hours, such as weekend shifts. But Hunt insisted: “What we are offering in this new contract for doctors, is more premium pay on a Saturday than the nurses who work in their hospitals, more than paramedics, more than the assistants who work in their own operating theatres, more than police officers, more than fire officers.” | Junior doctors believe that if the new contract is imposed, they will be insufficiently compensated for unusual working hours, such as weekend shifts. But Hunt insisted: “What we are offering in this new contract for doctors, is more premium pay on a Saturday than the nurses who work in their hospitals, more than paramedics, more than the assistants who work in their own operating theatres, more than police officers, more than fire officers.” |
| The British Medical Association (BMA), the doctors’ union, does not reject the idea of a seven-day NHS in principle, but believes the government is failing to provide sufficient additional resources to make the idea workable. | The British Medical Association (BMA), the doctors’ union, does not reject the idea of a seven-day NHS in principle, but believes the government is failing to provide sufficient additional resources to make the idea workable. |
| Some sources have suggested the government sees its confrontation with the doctors as political, and believes it must score a symbolic victory, drawing parallels with the humiliating defeat inflicted on striking miners in 1984. | Some sources have suggested the government sees its confrontation with the doctors as political, and believes it must score a symbolic victory, drawing parallels with the humiliating defeat inflicted on striking miners in 1984. |
| Hunt rejected that comparison, saying: “The last thing we are doing is itching for a fight.” However: he added: “I do think that there are some elements at the very top of the BMA that are absolutely refusing to compromise.” | Hunt rejected that comparison, saying: “The last thing we are doing is itching for a fight.” However: he added: “I do think that there are some elements at the very top of the BMA that are absolutely refusing to compromise.” |
| He argued that his determination in trying to force through the new working practices was motivated by the fact that the Conservatives had made a manifesto commitment to deliver a seven-day NHS. | He argued that his determination in trying to force through the new working practices was motivated by the fact that the Conservatives had made a manifesto commitment to deliver a seven-day NHS. |
| “I do not make a comparison with the miners’ strike because the miners’ strike left devastation that lasted very many years. We need to have a leadership in the BMA who are prepared to negotiate sensibly, and I think independent people who looked at this carefully from the left as well as the right have agreed that there was a refusal to compromise. | “I do not make a comparison with the miners’ strike because the miners’ strike left devastation that lasted very many years. We need to have a leadership in the BMA who are prepared to negotiate sensibly, and I think independent people who looked at this carefully from the left as well as the right have agreed that there was a refusal to compromise. |
| “Our choice as a government is very stark: do we deliver a manifesto commitment for a seven-day NHS? | “Our choice as a government is very stark: do we deliver a manifesto commitment for a seven-day NHS? |
| “It was the first page of the Conservative government manifesto, and the choice they gave us was to tear up that manifesto. No union, however powerful they are, and however good they are in enlisting public sympathy, has a right to stop the government implementing something the British people have voted for.” | “It was the first page of the Conservative government manifesto, and the choice they gave us was to tear up that manifesto. No union, however powerful they are, and however good they are in enlisting public sympathy, has a right to stop the government implementing something the British people have voted for.” |
| Hunt’s uncompromising stance reflected the language he used in a sometimes heated debate on the junior doctors’ strike in the House of Commons on Monday. | Hunt’s uncompromising stance reflected the language he used in a sometimes heated debate on the junior doctors’ strike in the House of Commons on Monday. |
| During the debate, Heidi Alexander, Labour’s health spokeswoman, strongly criticised his handling of the dispute. “How can it be safe to impose a contract when no one knows what the impact will be on recruitment and retention but everyone fears the worst?” she asked the health secretary. | During the debate, Heidi Alexander, Labour’s health spokeswoman, strongly criticised his handling of the dispute. “How can it be safe to impose a contract when no one knows what the impact will be on recruitment and retention but everyone fears the worst?” she asked the health secretary. |
| The BMA blamed Hunt’s intransigence for this week’s strikes. “We have made a repeated and genuine offer to the health secretary: lift the imposition and we will call off this action. Jeremy Hunt has rejected this and so responsibility for this action now rests squarely with the government,” said Dr Johann Malawana, the chair of the BMA’s junior doctors committee. | The BMA blamed Hunt’s intransigence for this week’s strikes. “We have made a repeated and genuine offer to the health secretary: lift the imposition and we will call off this action. Jeremy Hunt has rejected this and so responsibility for this action now rests squarely with the government,” said Dr Johann Malawana, the chair of the BMA’s junior doctors committee. |
| He rejected Hunt’s claim that Saturday was the only outstanding issue dividing the two sides. “The health secretary himself has admitted there are serious outstanding concerns about excessive working hours, training, recruitment and retention and the impact these have on the ability of the NHS to deliver a seven-day service,” Malawan added. | He rejected Hunt’s claim that Saturday was the only outstanding issue dividing the two sides. “The health secretary himself has admitted there are serious outstanding concerns about excessive working hours, training, recruitment and retention and the impact these have on the ability of the NHS to deliver a seven-day service,” Malawan added. |
| Hunt said he was willing to discuss other issues, including training, with the BMA. | Hunt said he was willing to discuss other issues, including training, with the BMA. |