Remedy Scotland

Well guys the fateful changeover day has come… and gone.

Many doctors started new jobs today, perhaps far from home. We want to know how you got on, and if you had any problems.

We also want to hear from you if you are an unemployed doctor. Did you get your promised contract extension? Are you jetting off abroad? Did you spend august 1st twiddling your thumbs or plugging service gaps as a locum?

We also need to hear from those doctors who propped up the NHS services while their colleagues were inducted. Were services in your hospital cancelled? Did anything dangerous happen on the wards?

If you would be interested in speaking to the press about your experiences of August the 1st, please drop us a line or give us a call.

Also please visit www.remedyuk.net for a full update of the UK situation.

Remedy UK is running a questionnaire about cancelled clinics and operating lists. Don’t let the government get away with their ridiculous spin. Help us prove that patient care has suffered because of their bungling. You can fill it out at : http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=744367

Kevin Cormack, Remedy Scotland Spokesperson

kevin.cormack@nhs.net

07753 727 725

The government has responded to an e-petition calling for the resignation of the Cheif Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson.

We believe that the time is now right to undertake a wider review of MMC and apply the lessons we have learned to a wider context. We therefore decided to establish an independent review, which will examine the processes underlying MMC and make recommendations to Ministers to ensure that we can implement any necessary improvements for 2008 and beyond.

This review is being chaired by Sir John Tooke, Dean of the Peninsula Medical School, Chair of the Council of Heads of Medical Schools and Chair of the UK Health Education Advisory Committee. It is being conducted independently of the four Health Departments and has its own independent secretariat. It will report on an interim basis in September.

The recruitment process is of course a crucial consideration, but we need to look at the broader MMC programme. The review will clarify and strengthen the principles underlying MMC, examining the extent to which MMC has engaged the medical profession and make recommendations to ensure that it has the support of the profession in the future. It will also look at the implementation processes underlying MMC and the methods used in selection and recruitment and how MMC can deliver a flexible response and can reflect local needs across the UK as well as safeguarding national standards.

The decision has been taken that the Remedy Scotland march for junior doctors, which had been planned for 14th July 2007, is to be postponed. This decision was not taken lightly and was the result of significant consultation and deliberation by the committee, after much discussion with colleagues and peers. Their views have been taken into account, and it is widely felt that now is not the right time for this march. In part this is to allow the new Scottish Executive time to develop their plans to support of junior doctors, and for further negotiations to take place. This will also allow time for the new system of run-through training to be evaluated.

If necessary, the march will be held later this year, and initial plans are for mid-October. We continue to strive for a better deal for junior doctors and remain concerned about the recruitment process employed this year, as well as the ‘dumbing down’ of the medical profession.

We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to its supporters due to postponment of this march, extend their invitation to the next march later in 2007. Remedy Scotland will continue to grow in strength, and retains the support of the The Scottish Patients Association and The Scottish Health Campaigns Network as we fight for junior doctors, the medical profession, and the NHS.

We need as much support on 14th July as we can muster.

Please download and print our Remedy Protest Poster and pin it up at your place of work, community centre… or just on the fridge at home!

For immediate release 04/07/2007
FAO News Desk

On Saturday July 14th 2007 Remedy Scotland will be leading doctors in Scotland in a protest march through the centre of Glasgow.

This protest will raise awareness of forced medical unemployment, the “dumbing down” of medical training, and the expected severe disruption to the National Health Service in Scotland.

The Scottish Executive have shown a willingness to listen to and act in support of junior doctors, but there are still many grave problems that need to be addressed. Remedy intends to push this issue further into public view since it affects the health of every man, woman and child in Scotland.

British doctors feel betrayed by a bureaucratic government that has refused to listen, that ploughs ahead with ill-thought-out changes and that treats its professional employees with disdain. The new SNP-led executive has a chance now to show that it can do things differently.

The Scottish Patients Association and the Scottish Health Campaigns Network will support this protest.
Read the rest of this entry »

Our campiagn for a better, fairer system for junior doctors is growing. Many of our volunteers are junior doctors who do not yet have an appointment for August 2007.

However, we also need help from other areas of the medical profession, and from other groups and individuals in Scotland.

Consultants and SpRs

… because the changes affecting junior doctors affect the entire medical profession.

Junior doctors who do have jobs in August

… because if change is not implemented, the quality of your training will be affected.

Nurses, Ambulance Crews and Hospital Support Staff

… because devaluing the role of junior doctors weakens the NHS as a whole

Unions, Community Groups and individual members of the public

… because doctors trained with taxpayers money are leaving the NHS and leaving the country.

We need volunteers to work not just on a national level, but to co-ordinate the campaigns on a regional, hospital and surgery level. If you would like to contribute, even for just an hour per week, please contact us by e-mailing help@remedy-scotland.org.uk.

Scotland’s Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon has written to The Herald:

We are currently analysing the application and offer data to determine the impact on Scotland’s medical trainees. We are also considering how best to support them. Nothing has been ruled out at this stage.

I am determined to do what is right for Scotland. I will reflect on the lessons from the recruitment and selection process this year, and the outcomes of the independent review of MMC, and if necessary will consider different arrangements for 2008 and beyond in Scotland.

The letters page also includes contributions from doctors in Scotland who have been affected by the new arrangements. See also the earlier Herald article: New system leaves careers in chaos.

Daily Mail article, Saturday 23rd June

More than one in five junior doctors say they have contemplated suicide due to stress brought on by the recruitment fiasco.

And a third say they have made more mistakes at work as a result of the flawed Modernising Medical Careers programme.

Almost 700 doctors were questioned by the Royal College of Psychiatrists about how their wellbeing was affected by the botched recruitment process.

Remedy Scotland has launched this new website to publicise and co-ordinate our growing campiagn.

• The site will provide news and resources for our active campaigns, which include
• A petition to the Scottish Executive
• A protest march to be held in Glasgow in July 2007
• Building a network in hospitals, clinics and surgeries throughout Scotland

We will also provide links to other sites and news articles that give more information on the campaign.