The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow – who represent members across the UK – have written to the First Minister of Scotland to express their concerns with the dispute around the junior doctors’ contract in England and the ongoing and damaging uncertainty it is having on the NHS across the UK.

The First Minister has written today to the Prime Minister to ask him to lift the imposition of the junior doctors’ contract in England and enable negotiations to resume.

In a joint statement, Prof Derek Bell, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Prof David Galloway, President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow , and Mr Michael Lavelle- Jones, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, said:

“We are already seeing the detrimental impact the threat of an imposed contract is having on the NHS and we are extremely concerned about the impact on patients now, as the all-out strike action by understandably aggrieved trainees takes place, and on the future delivery of safe patient care.

“Our priority is high-quality patient care, achieved through the highest standards of education, training and assessment and the retention of a world-class medical workforce.

“The imposition of the contract in England risks jeopardising our shared ambition for the future of the NHS by undervaluing and demotivating a group of doctors already under significant pressure.

“We very much welcome the commitment from the Scottish Government not to impose the junior contract in Scotland and welcome the First Minister’s letter to the Prime Minister to ask him to remove the threat of imposition and return to negotiations.  We believe that imposition in England will have far-reaching and unintended consequences for healthcare across all nations in the UK for the foreseeable future.”

ENDS

Contact: Lisa Rooke, RCPE - 0131 247 3688 / l.rooke@rcpe.ac.uk