A legal challenge has been issued to the government over decisions it has made which deprive junior doctors of key labour protection rights.
Lawyers employed by the campaign group Remedy are questioning the propriety of a consultation carried out earlier this year on whether to exempt deaneries from employment agency legislation.
Remedy has opposed the move because it claims that it deprives juniors of key employment protection rights.
Abuses include failing to inform junior doctors seeking work through deaneries of which rotation jobs they will be assigned to when they apply; being forced to ’stick or twist’ on jobs; and not knowing where they will be two weeks before a job starts.
Remedy’s lawyers have sent a legal ‘letter before action’ to Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, in a bid to persuade him to withdraw his decision and to start the consultation process again.
They have highlighted the way the Department for BIS justified the exemption on “potential consequences” and “evidence” - the details of which were not revealed.
They argue that the consultation came to the conclusion that the only group who could be affected by the proposed changes to the law would be the deaneries themselves. They also point out that there was no consideration of the impact this action would have on the doctor.
Remedy’s head of policy Richard Marks said: “In the short term this legal action will delay any changes which will be to the benefit of those currently going through the system. But our long-term aim is to campaign for better and fairer controls of the ways that deaneries conduct recruitment.
“We want to see the levels of protection for doctors increased, not reduced. The distant promise of a code of conduct with very uncertain powers is simply not good enough.”
In return for exempting deaneries from employment legislation the Department for BIS has proposed establishing a code of conduct to govern future recruitment and training arrangements for junior doctors.
But Dr Shree Datta, chair of the BMA’s junior doctors’ committee said they were concerned about how much teeth the code would have and whether it would be enforceable.
“We will await with interest the progress that Remedy make on this issue. Meanwhile were are putting pressure on deaneries to make sure they are aware of the feeling among junior doctors on this issue,” she said.
A Department for Business spokesperson said: “I can confirm that we have received a letter from Remedy and are in the process of considering it.”
Read a blog on the issue.
Tags: Deaneries, Jobs, Recruitment
Well done remedy. Yet again it seems to be left to you to defend the legal rights of junior doctors. Sadly, all Goverments (all all political shades) seem to be very keen to enact laws that place (reasonable?) responsibilities on employers in relation to employees - and then suddenly realise that they, too, are (one of the biggest) employers and try to exempt themselves froom their own legislation! I wonder if they have been reading Dickens and relate to the Artful Dodger?!
Retired Orthopod