subscribe: Posts | Comments

Changes to doctors’ contracts worse for women

0 comments

Proposed changes to junior doctors' contracts stand to hit women hardestProposed changes to junior doctors’ contracts stand to hit women, especially those with young families, hardest.

In recent weeks doctors around the country have been protesting against proposed government changes to junior doctors’ contracts.

And last month the British Medical Association (BMA) announced it will be balloting its members to undergo industrial action in response to the proposed changes which are due to take place in August 2016.

One issue is the proposed changes to ‘normal’ working hours from Monday-Friday from 7am-7pm to Monday-Saturday from 7am -10pm.

The suggestion has been that no overtime will be paid for evening or Saturday work, and many junior doctors have been led to believe this could potentially see their pay reduced by as much as 30 per cent.

There have also been fears that the government will cancel safeguards set up to ensure that no junior doctor can work more than 48 hours a week.

By losing these safeguards doctors have argued their hours will increase unmanageably, potentially for little or no pay and this in turn could have an adverse effect on their own personal lives – and on patient safety.

In addition, the government is proposing to eradicate a scheme called ‘pay progression’ which means that if you are a junior doctor in a speciality training post your pay will increase incrementally year on year, even if you have been on maternity leave or decided to work part-time to look after your children.

This change would also affect people who have taken time out to embark on research or further study.

The term ‘junior doctor’ does not mean just young, recent graduates; many doctors remain as ‘junior’ well into their thirties, which often coincides with the time women wish to start a family.

Eliminating ‘pay progression’ therefore specifically targets female junior doctors.

In an attempt to quell discontent, Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, in a letter sent to the chair of the junior doctor’s committee at the BMA on 8 October, and which has now been made public, said: “I have asked NHS Employers to develop the details of the new contract to ensure that the great majority of junior doctors are at least as well paid as they would be now.”

“I can give an absolute guarantee to junior doctors that this contract will not impose longer hours. No junior doctor working full time will be expected to work on average more than 48 hours a week.”

And, he went on “…I can give an assurance that nights and Sundays will continue to attract unsocial hours payments. I would be pleased to discuss in negotiations how far plain time working extends on Saturdays.”

In reviewing Hunt’s letter you could be persuaded that junior doctors have nothing to worry about and are in fact standing in the way of progress.

But the letter also said “Whilst I want to see an end to automatic annual increments (with pay rises instead based on moving through the stages of training and taking on more responsibility), these changes would be cost neutral, rather than cost saving.”

Junior doctor Georgie Fozard wrote in Grazia recently: “Under the new contract, once you start having babies, your pay will be frozen and won’t progress until you’re back in work full time, like a man.”

And on the BMA website junior doctor Samira Anane said that people like her will be the hardest hit – female junior doctors who have chosen to have a family.

But no one just becomes a doctor. Before having a child the majority of female junior doctors will have spent years in medical school, and years working extremely hard in a demanding, tiring job caring for people on a daily basis.

It’s a tough job. It is also an extremely valuable and important job. It should therefore be rewarded accordingly, and part of that reward should be appropriate support when doctors choose to have a family.

And increasing pay year on year even when the doctor is on maternity leave or reduced hours acknowledges the contribution doctor’s have made and will make.

The increase in junior doctor’s pay when they are on maternity leave, or have chosen to work part-time to enable them to spend some time with their children, is something that should be applauded – and should not be eradicated.

It demonstrates the NHS at its best, a public body seeking to make working arrangements for women in the work place fairer.

It is disappointing that the government is choosing to change this. It also sets  a terrible example to the private sector; ideally the government should be encouraging fairness in the workplace.

For as Fozard said, “If a government is prepared to impose a contract that discriminates against women and mothers, what hope is there for the private sector?!”

Having children is not some kind of hobby women choose to take up of their own accord. Men and women both decide to procreate for a plethora of reasons – but why is it always women who are the hardest hit when the decision to do so has been made?

Yet again the contribution women make in choosing to raise their children is being ignored, undervalued and unappreciated.

The fact that the government is even considering introducing these changes speaks volumes about its attitude to women and how to improve the situation of working women.

It is a step backwards for women’s equality in the medical profession.

And of course it is simply not fair.

On its website the BMA says that it wants the following concrete assurance in writing from the Government before it can agree to re-enter negotiations: “No disadvantage for those working less than full time and taking parental leave compared to the current system.”

It remains to be seen whether or not this government will listen to the BMA and to the medical profession.

But one thing is clear – this is not an issue that concerns junior doctors alone, it is an issue that undoubtedly affects everyone in the UK for a variety of reasons.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *