Junior doctors have started a legal action against the government, attempting to block it from imposing its unpopular new contracts on 45,000 medics working in the NHS.
According to The Guardian, the British Medical Association or BMA has debuted a judicial review that challenges the legality of the ruling by the health secretary Jeremy Hunt. Hunt forced the new terms and conditions on all junior doctors in England.
Doctor Johann Malawana, the chair of the union's junior doctors committee, stated, "In trying to push through these changes, prior to imposing a new contract the government failed to give proper consideration to the equalities impact this contract could have on junior doctors. Malawana also added, "So today the BMA has issued proceedings to launch a judicial review challenging the lawfulness of the health secretary's decision to impose the new junior doctor contract."
INDEPENDENT UK reported that doctors have even reacted heatedly following the government's own impact assessment of the new junior doctor contract. The contract cited that any "adverse effect" impact on women's pay is a "proportionate" means to an end.
The Department of Health's own assessment called Equality Impact Assessment of the controversial new contract was published in full this week. The assessment found out that aspects of the new contract would "impact disproportionately on women", pointing out specific disadvantages for single mothers.
But the assessment concluded that on balance, the contract was not discriminatory. The adverse effects could also be "comfortably justified". Doctors said that it would preserve a "gender pay gap" in the medical profession.
However, a BMA spokesperson told the Dailymail UK that there are no particular examples of how the new contract disadvantages any group. The Department of Health also admitted that it did not carry out the assessment prior to imposing the new contract. Nonetheless, it has revealed that it published the report and made a number of changes to the new contract as a result.
Meanwhile, the lawyers claimed that launching the judicial review should simply be an opportunity to negotiate improvements to the deal; and as part of the judicial review, a judge will review whether Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt's failure to follow the due process when introducing the new contract means the government acted unlawfully.
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