Tories would ‘ban doctors from going on strike’, says party leader
The next Tory Government would ‘ban doctors from going on strike’, the leader of the Conservative party has pledged today.
In her speech closing the party’s conference in Manchester today, Kemi Badenoch also blamed GP appointment shortages on a ‘broken immigration model’ which is ‘heaping pressure on our public sector’.
She blamed long waiting lists on doctors going on strike and said that under a Conservative Government they would be banned from taking industrial action.
It comes after the BMA announced this week that first-year doctors have overwhelmingly voted to support strike action as a tool to make the Government solve the GP unemployment crisis.
Ms Badenoch said: ‘In the NHS, industrial action has kept waiting lists high for far too long. Enough is enough. We will ban doctors from going on strike.’
She said that the current immigration model is putting pressure on the public sector and that a Conservative Government would develop ‘detailed plans to make things work better’ across public services including the NHS.
She added: ‘At the moment we are not just taking in doctors, engineers, and scientists. We are accepting hundreds of thousands of people, some with many dependents. Some with no skills at all.
‘This broken immigration model is heaping pressure on our public sector. A public sector which already every year, demands more and more and more of our money, yet services don’t get better, they get worse. Everyone in this room knows what I am talking about.
‘We have all felt it. We used to ring up our GP and get an appointment the same day. Now, now we have to wait on the phone to see if we’re one of the lucky ones.’
The BMA responded to the announcement saying that banning strikes is ‘anti-democratic’, and that preventing doctors from striking to express concern ‘only devalues them further’.
BMA council deputy chair Dr Emma Runswick said: ‘Doctors should have a right to strike, just like everyone else. Banning strikes is anti-democratic and at odds with any concept of a free British society.
‘Gagging committed professionals when they sound the alarm about NHS crises will make the problems worse.
‘Patients are having operations or appointments postponed every single day in the NHS due to understaffing and lack of beds; undervaluing staff contributes to that.
‘Banning doctors from expressing their concerns with legitimate industrial action only devalues them further.’
Pulse has recently revealed that the new dispute between GPs and the current Labour Government could include industrial action organised by the BMA and the breaching of contracts.
Alongside the work towards a potential ballot, the BMA is also still pursuing the potential of a judicial review into the recent GP contract changes.
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READERS' COMMENTS [3]
Please note, only GPs are permitted to add comments to articles
Haven’t laughed so hard for months…. Bad-Enoch moaned that the decline in butterfly numbers was also due to a broken immigration model, as were our polluted rivers, flooding, air quality, litter and potholes. She got huge applause when she pledged to ban the wind from blowing too hard and the tide from wetting her feet….
The men in white coats waited off stage for her….bye bye kemi – don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Thankyou Bird. Entertaining and heart-lightening.
Waiting times are of course nothing to do with junior doctors STRIKES, or anything to do with illegal immigration, but more to do with the number of unfilled posts and poor workforce planning, poor Ts&Cs, and lack of resources and funding to the NHS, in a concerted effort by Tories to get everyone to take out private insurance : but don’t, because after paying for many years, when you do need something, you will find it is excluded or not covered ! And private healthcare, like anything else privatised, is very much more expensive than Public provision, because there is the essential profit for shareholders and private company on top of the actual costs; whilst NHS still bears all the training and support costs!
Thanks David, much appreciated. For donations, please make cheques out to the terminally ill ToryLifeSupport Fund 😉