BMA leader defends plan for doctors' strike action

Senior features writer

Friday 1 June 2012

THE Scottish doctor leading the first strike by physicians in almost 40 years has said he "absolutely understands" why people facing wage cuts and redundancy may feel his well-paid colleagues have little to complain about.

RESPONSE: Hamish Meldrum said the union had no choice but to ballot members. Picture: Reuters

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Rebecca McQuillan

But BMA chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum insisted the association could not ignore the sense of injustice felt by its members. Doctors voted earlier this week to take part in industrial action on June 21 over changes to their pensions, with up to 10,000 doctors in Scotland likely to take part.

Ministers point out some doctors working today will retire with a pension worth £68,000 a year, while those who stop working at 65 will still get more than £53,000 a year. But Dr Meldrum, who is Edinburgh-born and trained, told The Herald: "Doctors feel they reached an agreement in 2008 which meant they would work longer, pay more [into their pension] and take on board the risk for any future increases in demands on the pensions pot, and the Government has effectively torn that up."We have to respond to what our members are saying and it became absolutely clear there was a huge amount of anger and disillusionment with what the Government had done." He said he and his colleagues were "quite shocked" when more than 60% of BMA members said they would take industrial action in a survey early in the new year. The former GP added: "We felt we had no choice but to ballot them. If anything, the feeling has strengthened and hardened, because we have had over 70% saying they were prepared to take part in the action." Dr Meldrum, who moved back to Edinburgh two months ago after more than 30 years in east Yorkshire, is due to step down as chairman of the BMA next month after four years. He has been at the helm of the doctors' union during negotiations over the controversial Health and Social Care Act 2012, which gave GPs in England control of a significant amount of the NHS budget and introduced more competition.Comparing the healthcare systems in Scotland and in England, he praised the "more egalitarian approach" north of the Border, adding: "It's a social solidarity model of healthcare which is the one I've always known. I think that's the right model."Dr Meldrum was also part of the committee that negotiated a new GP contract in 2004, which ensured patients could expect the same standards of care across the UK. It also allowed GPs to opt out of providing out-of-hours cover and was intended to allow for increases in pay, in return for taking on new work.Average GP salaries in Scotland rose in the first few years after the reforms. In 2008-9, Scottish contractor GPs' average pay was £86,500 and over a quarter earned more than £100,000.Asked if GPs were well-paid, Dr Meldrum said: "Yes. I mean, anyone in any walk of life feels they maybe deserve more. I think what is more concerning to doctors now is that they feel there is this inexorable rise in workload and demand, resources are limited and they are always trying to stretch themselves further."The last time doctors went on strike was over junior doctors' hours and Dr Meldrum was a junior doctor himself at the time. Asked if the proposed changes to pension arrangements were the worst injustice doctors had faced since, he said it was difficult to compare, but anger over pensions had to be seen in the light of wider dissatisfaction among doctors frustrated by rising workload and a sense of having little control over their working lives.On June 21, doctors will be at work and dealing with urgent and emergency care, but non-urgent operations and out-patients appointments are due to be cancelled or postponed.

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BMA leader defends plan for doctors' strike action

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