In this issue

3

At a glance

Consultants set dates for possible industrial action

4-7

Two tribes?

How medical apprenticeships could create a two-tier training system

8-11

Fair’s fair

Striving for equity in a struggling and under-staffed NHS

12-15

Homeward bound

Why the out-of-area beds crisis doesn’t have to be inevitable

16-17

Speaking up

An interview with the BMA president, a champion for public health

18-19

Free to roam

The sessional GPs making the most of the fl exibility the role provides

20-21

Fighting back

GPs win back thousands of pounds in a BMA-backed case against NHSPS

22 Your BMA

Industrial action set to dominate the BMA annual representative meeting

Phil Banfield, BMA council chair

In this issue of The Doctor, the former BMA president Raanan Gillon and I talk about fairness. It’s something we’re passionate about, but I accept that when we talk about values in general terms they can seem a bit abstract. However, a glance through the other content in this issue reveals how fairness – or the lack of it – cuts through almost everything we experience in our working lives.

With applications for the first medical degree apprenticeships likely to open next year, NHS England says the courses will offer the same training and standards as the traditional undergraduate route. The BMA has long supported widening access to medical training, and condemns the crippling debts which students are forced to accrue. But as well as some serious practical issues to consider, there is a fundamental question of fairness – will a two-tier system be created in which some students are paying to learn and some are being paid? I look forward to this issue being debated at next month’s BMA annual representative meeting in Liverpool. There is certainly no fairness in vulnerable patients with severe mental health problems being sent hundreds of miles away from friends or family for treatment for lack of beds. It is heartening in this issue to see examples of NHS organisations that have managed to reduce their reliance on outof-area placements.

I am delighted that justice has at last been granted to the GPs who were stung by enormous and unfair charges from NHS Property Services. Legal action backed by the BMA resulted in the practices being saved from bills of thousands of pounds which may have threatened their existence.

Sessional GPs describe how they use the flexibility their position gives them to benefit healthcare projects overseas, in the armed forces, as well as improving services for patients at home.

‘Energetic’ is very much a word I’d apply to the BMA president Martin McKee. Our interview reveals his remarkably wide-ranging areas of expertise, from Brexit, to austerity, to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Martin speaks up for those affected by thoughtless, unfair and unjust policies. Ours is a profession with a conscience. Martin embodies just that and it’s a potent reminder that our fight for our members is also a fight for our patients and the public’s health.

Keep in touch with the BMA online at instagram.com/thebma twitter.com/TheDrMagazine