Abstract
I have just received my copy of JRSM and as usual anticipated your editorial 1 which is usually stimulating and thought‐provoking. This one was no exception, but I was particularly struck by your statement that ‘The medical profession has developed a siege mentality, attacked by government, betrayed by its trade union …’. 1 By this latter remark I must presume you are referring to the BMA. I agree with you.
But as President of the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association I would not want your readers to tarnish all Health Unions with your same brush. There is no ‘one’ trade union representing doctors. While the BMA may wish to speak for itself in response to your editorial, there is an alternative. The HCSA is a non‐political Trade Union, and affiliated to the TUC (which the BMA is not) and represents senior hospital doctors in their daily working lives and wider professional interests.
It would be wrong to imply that Unions generally stand accused of betraying the profession. If you look at recent history you will find that we did not support the dreadful contract that most senior staff now work to, and which has done so much damage to the profession and its relationship with its patients. We advanced then, and continue to believe in, the concept of a professional contract that is work, not time, sensitive and which recognizes individual contributions doctors make. We stood alongside our junior colleagues when they marched in protest at the MMC debacle; we supported and subsidized Remedy UK when others failed to do so. We listen to the members we serve.
Yes, the profession is justified in feeling betrayed. But the profession needs to think carefully not just how this came about but what to do about it.
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