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21 December, 2002 FRONT PAGE New consultant, CCSC, Chairman Paul Miller has set his stall out with his promises of open debate, tough negotiation and engagement with members. He has asked colleagues not to allow implementation of the rejected contract piecemeal, trust by trust and has condemned Milburn's immediate refusal to renegotiate nationally. Battle lines are being drawn up with the presumed loser, the NHS, not understanding, even yet, the strength of their opponents under their new leadership. "GP leaders" (oh, how I hate that phrase) assure colleagues that pricing talks are on schedule, trumpets BMAnews. However, by yesterday, GP leader Chisholm was sending out e-mails to GPs saying they were not. A day is a long time for a failing politician. It is looking unlikely there will be implementation on the due date. The cynics are already suggesting (though not in bmanews) that GPC will attempt to catch up by shortening the period of assimilation and debate before the vote. This is seen to favour a YES vote. Dr Chisholm says in his e-mail that other steps will be taken if the DoH does not comply withy the due date. Maybe a slap in the face with a wet fish? ELSEWHERE Once again the BMA reaffirms its condemnation of foundation hospitals. A weird concoction from a Labour government. In a contrast with the English DoH, where the contract was rejected, the Scots NHS is showing eagerness to become involved in implementation with the "happy" consultants north of the border. Meanwhile, ex-juniors' leader Trevor Pickersgill condemned the Irish CCSC for ignoring the registrars' vote and accepting the contract. With the registrar vote there would have been on overall rejection. This is a betrayal of what was promised in BMA Council and elsewhere before the vote. So much for BMA principles, then. The BMA prepares for a new era of transparency, shouts the bmanews. Chisholm was obviously not listening at the time because when I asked him what Plan B was if the GP contract was rejected he told Council that it was a secret. Plus ca change. It is, perhaps, time that Chisholm accepted that job in the civil service (There's bound to be one for him) and left politics to those more deeply involved. Paul Thorpe He was appalled, during the recent negotiations, how many colleagues were unhappy but were afraid to speak out - even in BMA committee. By the sounds of it he intends to put a bomb behind the present consultants structure of the BMA to make it responsive to all consultants. Who's going to do the same to GPC, I wonder, and replace the pompous, self-congratulatory asses presently in control? The future for
consultants' however, is looking brighter.
14 December, 2002 FRONT PAGE In this very small pre-Christmas issue the lead story covers the anxiety of juniors that Milburn will impose the contract piecemeal, trust by trust. They rightly demand an action plan. The DoH, for its part, has said it is considering "a range of options" and will make an announcement shortly. Another story describes how a hospital trust seems to be attempting, through inefficiency or design, to avoid paying some of their juniors cash which they owe. Quaintly, the trust spokeswoman said they were doing it in the interest of the junior doctors. Mor4e on the junior front. The European Working Time Directory says that workers, including doctors, should have rest periods. The department is being bloody minded about it and talks have broken down. The senior doctors are (now, have) voting for their new leader. The result was too late fort his edition but the old guard have been evicted, to nobody's amazement. ELSEWHERE The inestimable Lord Hunt is making threatening noises about NICE directives. He says they are legal requirements and must be obeyed. Going further he demands to know when they are not being followed. Showing a certain amount of new mettle, Ian Bogle said he doesn't consider them to be directions and, anyway, the PCTs haven't the money to implement them. Hunt said that was too bad, he had no sympathy for that point of view. Chisholm has told the government that PMS is not the answer to the doctor shortage and they should concentrate on the 70% GMS GPs. The Northern Irish minister has said he wants doctors to lead primary care. Where have we heard that false wish before? There must be spin here. The Welsh health secretary says the number of GP vacancies has halved over the past 10 months. I trust that figure as much as I trust Mrs Blair to tell the truth when she's in a fix. It has been calculated that the asinine wheeze of Milburn's to charge local authorities daily fines for not having beds for the elderly to be discharged into (bed-blocking), will cost social services £160million/year. And who's going to pay it? The most stupid part of all this is that Milburn is going to give the LAs £100million a year from NHS funds. The Rt Honourable President Blair was stung by Tory leader Duncan Smith into saying topping up charges for university were out. However, this may be a similar "misunderstanding" to those his wife has recently uttered because we have since been told that they are still on the agenda. That is late news, after publication. If Blair cut his coat according to the cloth he wouldn't be in this fix but he does insist that 50% of school leavers should be at university even if large numbers are blockheads. This stupid promise he is to make the students and their parents pay for. In a tone of menace the government supporting King's Fund says that the NHS must prevent older NHS staff retiring early because of low morale and a heavy workload. So, doctor, if you're going to go, go now because the bastards will make it legally impossible in the future. bma view this week is by John Chisholm who says he will be fighting hard on your behalf over Christmas and that this is a critical time. Chairman Bogle's wife, Julie Coulson, writes a piece on the research into the reform of the BMA. It's worth reading because it's your organisation and this is your time to put in your two pennorth. So, get on with it otherwise you'll be left with an even worse pig in a poke than you've got - and it will be your own fault.
7 December, 2002 FRONT PAGE The lead story once again concerns consultants and their contract. CCSC is trying to "re-engage" with the consultants who so badly let them down. Dr Bogle was, it seems snubbed by Milburn who told him at the outset of their recent meeting that there would be no renegotiation. One can only applaud that the Chairman is now opening his eyes to the real Milburn. Mind you, it's taken a political earthquake to achieve that happy state. It is a real pity that he has left it so late but... Let us hope that a new dawn is breaking in Tavistock Square. Scottish Juniors are to join in contract talks with their seniors even though they rejected the contract themselves. They convinced themselves that they were not getting into bed with the consultants or splitting from the English juniors. Northern Ireland juniors have criticised their seniors for implementing the contract. The Seniors chairman said there would be another ballot before final acceptance. ELSEWHERE There is fear that doctors who officially counsel sick colleagues may be disciplined by the GMC for not whistle-blowing on those colleagues. What sort of a crazy world are we living in? Another negotiator has "welcomed" yet another government initiative. Hamish Meldrum welcomed the desperate Milburn's £12,000 golden hello designed to bribe colleagues into working in unpleasant areas. Doctors wishing to stand for the trivial 19 medical seats on GMC have until February next year to rustle up 10 supporters and their manifesto. Bet you the "great and the good" collar then all. To no one's surprise, no doubt, Professor Ian Kennedy, scourge of the Bristol Enquiry finds himself as Chairman of the Milburnian QUANGO, the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (CHAI). Let empire building begin and NHS patient orientated funds diminish. Having complained that Local Authorities are wasting NHS cash by their poor funding of care in the community keeping patients in hospital, Milburn is now transferring £300million of NHS money to local authorities. No doubt this is to be used to pay the fines he will be demanding from them for their inability to provide community beds due to insufficient central funding. Cuckoo! In CCSC Q & A joint deputy chairman Edwin Borman says that CCSC "misinterpreted" the mesages from consultants about the contract. The whole point of the consultants' present alienation from the BMA is that it wasn't misinterpretation, it was that CCSC, and in particular, its late and unmissed Chairman arrogantly thought they were right and refused to listen. If Edwin thinks it was misinterpretation then he has learned nothing from the fiasco. He comments that consultants should talk to their BMA rep and do the surveys but he does not assure them that CCSC, still mainly the old failures, will listen any more than they did before. The old lags of St George's Medical School will be pleased with its feature in this week's edition. The Editor-in-Chief is allowing an increasing number of letters from doctors disenchanted in one way or another with Milburn's creation. Could it be that there are no other letters? It's difficult to understand the meaning of Second Opinion this week. A Scottish consultant anaesthetist who voted for the contract seems to be predictably saying that the contract is alright in Scotland and that consultants both sides of the border are identical. However she understands why the English voted against it. There is a discussion on the Swedish drugs policy and the Torys' approval of it. Liam Fox recently outlines Tory drugs policy as benign coercion. The object being to catch addicts before criminalising them. They would then be given the opportunity to either seriously take part in a rehab programme or be prosecuted. It certainly seems better than the present Labour policy of virtually decriminalising cannabis and making heroin more easily accessible through GP surgeries. This can only lead to increased consumption and increased black-market sales as addicts and friends travel between GP practices. |
