If I may quote a recent letter from a consultant colleague in London; this
summarises very neatly the iniquities of this proposed contract, which seem
so obvious when plainly stated in this way:
> I have read the proposed consultant contract in detail and been to 3
> meetings where is has been discussed. One organised by the BMA, the second
> by the Trust and the third by BAEM. I have read the recent letters sent by
> the BMA and CCSC and have come to the conclussion that I am going to vote
> no. My reasons:
>
> 1. The normal working week should be 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. Working
> evenings or Sat/Sun should not be at the normal rate of pay but at the
> enhanced rate of pay.
>
> 2. The normal working week is 40 hours and what one does outside these
> hours is one's own business. The government should not be forcing new
> Consultants to work 8 hours of extra work for the NHS before they are
> allowed to do private practice. It should be optional (rate to be
> negotiated) as we have freedom of choice outside our 40 hour contract. I
do
> no priviate practice so do not have any vested interest in this.
>
> 3. I don't like the emotional blackmail which says "This is the best that
> is on offer so you had better take it now". I don't believe this is the
> case. If there is a significant no vote the government & BMA cannot run
> the risk of antagonising the Consultant body by introducing it against our
> wishes. They will have to renegotiate as the NHS plan can not be delivered
> without the cooperation of the Consultant body.
>
> I believe a simple re-negotiation on the above points will produce a
> satisfactory contact (which will cost money!!) for us. If you agree with
> the above or some modification of it please forward this message to as
many
> colleagues as you can both within your Trust and in other trusts. It will
> only take you a few moments. Doing nothing could have bad consequences for
> us and all future Consultants.
>
> Stephen Nash
> A&E Consultant
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