Jeremy Hunt and the junior doctors.

[Workingman]

Apart from being on the receiving end of some superb treatment from them I know nothing of what they go through on a daily basis. I can, however, see that they are frustrated at their treatment in the NHS and especially with regards to the imposition of a new work contract they are prepared for an all-out strike.

I also know little of what Jeremy Hunt is trying to achieve except that he says he is doing the best for the doctors and the NHS and will not back down, so we have an impasse.

Today it is announced that a cross-party group of MPs has suggested running a few pilot schemes of the new contract so that both sides can see how it works, and again Hunt has said "No".

This now looks as though Hunt is being stubborn beyond belief and this is rather strange as governments, of all colours, are usually enthusiastic about pilots. If they work everything is fine. If they don't work they get tweaked and tweaked and tweaked till opponents get fed up and walk away, then the pilots get rolled out anyway.

[Kaz]

I do not trust Hunt one inch, years ago he co-wrote a book about abolishing the NHS, so putting him in his current role was rather like putting Herod in charge of nursery schooling I feel he is privately rubbing his hands with glee at the current situation, and the chaos it will bring

It is patently clear that he NEEDS to talk to the doctors about all this, but the sheer arrogance of the man (rather typical I feel of his ilk) precludes this

[cruiser2]

As someone has recently said, Hunt should be with a junior doctor for a week and then see how he feels about being on call and working for that period.
But he does not live in the real world. I bet he has never got his hands dirty and is just trying to show he can do what he wants without any discussions.
Would he like it if MPs had their contracts altered without discussion and negotiation

[Workingman]

This has now gone quite mad. The BBC, quoting government sources, is now reporting that the doctors are trying to bring the government down.

[Kaz]

It's shocking Frank

[Workingman]

The 'bringing down the government' claim is absolutely ridiculous, This is Project Fear in overdrive and to me it shows just how much we are influenced by the media.

The doctors do not want to bring the government down, they want the government to listen to what they are saying ... how is that wrong?

[Suff]

I haven't been close enough to this to form much of an opinion. It's been my abiding opinion for a long time now that the NHS is the very last state organism which is infested with the neo communist attitude of the 1970's. It is one of the last government institutions which continues to consume more and more money but delivers less and less value for that money consumed.

That being said, it's similar to the miners strikes. There is wrong and right on both sides and in this I believe an "economy of scale" is being used rather than targeting the worst of the excesses.

From my understanding of what I hear, one of the biggest issues is with the consultants, not the junior doctors. However the sheer scale of the number of junior doctors means they are a soft target. Also the fact that is it a lot easier to replace a junior doctor than a consultant also works against them.

So whilst the junior doctors are doing the classic "state employee" tactic of attempting to browbeat their employer into changing course; the employer is using them as a quick fix to a more fundamental problem. Basically painting over the cracks, rather than fixing the crumbling foundations.

Dispassionately, taking all of the emotion out of the debate, the core of the problem is two fold. Fist that the NHS resists all change no matter what. Secondly that the government has gone for the quick fix rather than aiming at the root of the problem.

After all, outside of the UK, junior doctors work longer hours with more hassle for the prize of residency. It's a brutal Darwinian process which, perhaps, causes more problems than it cures but it tends to lead to very dedicated and skilled practitioners.

This whole thing started out political and will end political. I can see no real good coming out of it and it will not create the real change needed at the NHS. Although if the junior doctors do fail in their attempt to block the government, then the NHS will be set on the road of change which may, in the end, save it. If they win, it will eventually end in the demise of the NHS.