Junior Doctors’ Contract Negotiations
Debate between Richard Drax and Ben Gummer(8 years, 2 months ago)
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Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)
Whatever the arguments in this case, I can think of no one more honourable, decent and honest to run the negotiations than my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. It is reported that graduating medical students applying to be foundation year 1 and 2 junior hospital doctors are seeking work in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to avoid the new contract. Is that true, and if it is, what can be done to stop this drain of our best medical students?
Ben Gummer
We do not see any particular evidence of the movement of juniors at present, but what we would most like to see for juniors is the introduction of the new contract, so that they can recognise that it will be better for their working practices than the current one. It is in everyone’s interests—not just those of juniors, but those of patients—to ensure that juniors work safe hours. That is why the new contract involves reductions in the number of consecutive nights and long days, and it is why we want to reduce, and eventually eliminate, the excessively long hours in the week.
NHS: Financial Performance
Debate between Richard Drax and Ben Gummer(8 years, 6 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Ben Gummer
I thank the right hon. Gentleman, who was an exceptional care Minister in the coalition Government, but I am a little confused by his question. He was in post when the five-year forward view was delivered by the chief executive. Within that five-year forward view is a commitment to £22 billion of efficiency savings, and he did not raise his concerns at that stage. It is precisely those efficiency savings, presented by the NHS itself and on which we have embarked, that will allow the transformation to better care that we know is possible within the service.
Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)
We all have huge admiration for all the staff who work in the national health service. Visiting two community hospitals in my constituency in the past week, I saw that work at first hand. However, we are baffled by the bureaucracy that still exists in the NHS. Does my hon. Friend agree that we can go much further and be far more radical in cutting bureaucracy, not least, for example, by cutting the number of trusts? Is that going to be looked at as a whole to see if we can provide more money for front-line services?
Ben Gummer
My hon. Friend is entirely right. Every penny that we can save in bureaucracy and administration is a penny that we can spend on patient care, which is why the Secretary of State commissioned Lord Carter to look at the administration and bureaucracy that surrounds hospitals especially. Lord Carter has identified many billions of savings that can be made, and I anticipate that there will be more to come.