8000 unemployed doctors? 12000 marching
JD | 17.03.2007 15:08 | Health | Workers' Movements | London
12,000 or more doctors marched in protest against government-imposed reforms to medical training that have
So I guess some of them will have jobs. On what turned out to be a really nice day in London, having looked as if it was going to rain when I first set out this morning, around 12,000 doctors marched from the Royal College of Physicians next to Regent's Park to the Royal College of Surgeons at Lincolns Inn Fields. The demonstration passed the BMA and the Royal College of Anaesthetists on the way - all of these 4 esteemed organisations being being part responsible (however much they deny it) in the evolving fiasco that has become Massacring Medical Careers (MMC) in this country, this year.
A vast majority of the crowd was wearing medically identifiable clothing in one way or another: white coats, of course, but also theatre scrubs aplenty, stethoscopes, surgical gowns, and one guy with a knife in his back! These doctors and their families had travelled from all over the country: there were representations from Exeter, Newcastle and the Tyneside region, Brighton, Sheffield, Plymouth, Manchester, Leeds, Torbay and many, many others. And not only was it junior doctors, but senior colleagues as well: interviewers (or non-interviewers such as those from the West Midlands who recently refused to participate in the process) and those who are meant to be teaching; GPs who have completed their training; other juniors who already have training posts, but can see the knock-on effects that MMC is having on future training and the NHS in general. Furthermore, support from passing (read, stopped) motorists and pedestrians was virtually unanimous, with few seeming annoyed at having to wait the 30 or more minutes required for the demonstration to pass. This was also the politest demonstration that I have ever seen, with pauses at various intervals to let traffic through, particularly emergency vehicles, and everyone being extremely polite and law-obeying. As one person was overheard to say, "being the one group of people who unanimously get police checks before being employed, it's not as if we could really break any laws today"!!
At the final destination, the crowd was met with a typical assembly of speeches, although this time mercifully brief speechs from politicians and longer, better and more welcomed speeches from the previous medical unknowns such as Collette Marshall, a Consultant Vascular Surgeon who made the principalled stand to not participate in interviewing juniors for training posts. Overall, a very positive day for medical training in the UK although there is still a huge amount of apathy to be overcome in hospitals around the country. As the many banners and speeches made clear: this is the future of the NHS we are talking about - at £250,000 to train a doctor through medical school, we now risk thousands emigrating overseas to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA and many other countries.
A vast majority of the crowd was wearing medically identifiable clothing in one way or another: white coats, of course, but also theatre scrubs aplenty, stethoscopes, surgical gowns, and one guy with a knife in his back! These doctors and their families had travelled from all over the country: there were representations from Exeter, Newcastle and the Tyneside region, Brighton, Sheffield, Plymouth, Manchester, Leeds, Torbay and many, many others. And not only was it junior doctors, but senior colleagues as well: interviewers (or non-interviewers such as those from the West Midlands who recently refused to participate in the process) and those who are meant to be teaching; GPs who have completed their training; other juniors who already have training posts, but can see the knock-on effects that MMC is having on future training and the NHS in general. Furthermore, support from passing (read, stopped) motorists and pedestrians was virtually unanimous, with few seeming annoyed at having to wait the 30 or more minutes required for the demonstration to pass. This was also the politest demonstration that I have ever seen, with pauses at various intervals to let traffic through, particularly emergency vehicles, and everyone being extremely polite and law-obeying. As one person was overheard to say, "being the one group of people who unanimously get police checks before being employed, it's not as if we could really break any laws today"!!
At the final destination, the crowd was met with a typical assembly of speeches, although this time mercifully brief speechs from politicians and longer, better and more welcomed speeches from the previous medical unknowns such as Collette Marshall, a Consultant Vascular Surgeon who made the principalled stand to not participate in interviewing juniors for training posts. Overall, a very positive day for medical training in the UK although there is still a huge amount of apathy to be overcome in hospitals around the country. As the many banners and speeches made clear: this is the future of the NHS we are talking about - at £250,000 to train a doctor through medical school, we now risk thousands emigrating overseas to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA and many other countries.
JD