Norman Lamb has commented on Jeremy Hunt’s ill-advised decision to impose the controversial contract on junior doctors. He said:
It is a mistake to force a new contract on junior doctors when there is clearly still such strong opposition to its terms. There is a serious risk that large numbers of junior doctors will leave the NHS to go and work abroad, which will have serious consequences for the health service and patient safety.
Growing demand for services, coupled with a funding settlement which doesn’t keep up, are the fundamental problems facing health and care and yet the Government is refusing to take real action to address this.
What we need is a cross party commission to fundamentally review NHS and care funding, to ensure we can give a fair deal to both patients and NHS staff in years to come.
Forcing changes to the junior doctors’ contract is completely the wrong thing for the Government to be focusing on at this critical time for the future of the NHS.