Consultants threaten to quit
pharmafile | October 31, 2003 | News story | |Â Â Â
More than a quarter of hospital consultants are ready to resign or retire from the NHS if they dont receive a satisfactory contract.
The majority of consultants are ready to take some form of action, such as working to rule, if a deal cant be reached, according to a survey by the British Medical Association.
Last year, consultants in England and Wales rejected a new contract because they feared it gave managers too much control over their working patterns.
The survey found that 83% of consultants were dissatisfied with the management control side of the proposed contract. It also found more than nine out of ten consultants would be willing to take some form of action if the deadlock cannot be broken.
The new contract was narrowly accepted in Scotland and Northern Ireland where it is due to be introduced shortly.
The Government has so far refused to re-open talks with consultant leaders, and Health Secretary Alan Milburn has instead proposed introducing the contract in individual trusts in England and Wales.
In January, the Mr Milburn suggested the £250 million earmarked to pay for the new contract could be given to NHS trusts to distribute to their hardest working consultants.
Dr Paul Miller, Chairman of the BMAs Consultant Committee, said: "Consultants want a nationally negotiated contract that rewards them fairly for their NHS work. They do not want to see the contract they rejected introduced piecemeal at local level."
He warned that the NHS could not afford to let a quarter of its consultants either retire or quit to set up in chambers to sell their services back to the health service.
As the largest study of consultant opinion to date, the BMA's survey should give the Government cause to reflect and change course, Dr Miller said.
The survey follows the recent unveiling of a new GP contract, which offers significant pay rises for doctors in return for accepting heavy workloads and radical reform of working practices.
