Junior doctors’ pay dispute talks have been compared to a “peace process” by the UK Health Secretary, in an interview with the BBC. Victoria Atkins expressed a desire for talks to take place out of the public eye and away from social media pressure. Over the past year, doctors have gone on strike over demands for a 35% pay rise phased over a few years, while the government has offered just under 9%. Formal negotiations collapsed in December, but, this week, the British Medical Association (BMA) announced that it had agreed to enter into fresh talks with a government mediator. The BMA stated it believes an independent mediator may help the process of restoring trust between the two sides.
Atkins revealed that discussions had revealed junior doctors were most concerned about their working conditions, as well as their pay. However, Labour’s shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, called for a more “bipartisan” approach.
In a related development this week, a report was published by MPs into the UK’s maternity and postnatal care. The Birth Trauma Inquiry found that poor care was often seen as the norm, and heard from over 1,300 women whose experiences included being laughed at and denied pain relief. Atkins stated that maternity services had been overlooked historically and wanted every woman to feel safe and happy giving birth. She commented that, after her own first experience of childbirth, which took place on the same ward as mothers who had “traumatic experiences”, ““Seeing other mums in a great deal of distress, it was quite frightening actually
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