BMA JDC Update | Dr Robert Laurenson
Summary
Join Doctor Robert Lawrenson, co-chair of the UK Junior Doctors' Counsel at the BMA, in an on-demand teaching session relevant to medical professionals. Learn how the British medical education system has come under assault due to loss of respect, continuing pay erosion and other pressures faced by medical professionals. Discuss strategies to leverage influence and to gain victory and restore the respect of the British healthcare system. Hear inspiring words and engage in lively discussion with a true call-to-arms and food for thought.
Description
Learning objectives
Learning Objectives:
- Explain the current landscape of the British medical profession and the difficulties faced by surgeons in training.
- Summarize the core values of the British medical profession and the reasons Royal College influence is not sufficient to protect it.
- Discuss the Union's power as a means to impose respect and influence in Westminster.
- Describe the importance of courage and collaboration to protect the medical profession.
- Understand how to take personal action in the fight for respect, career completion and pay for medical professionals.
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Computer generated transcript
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The following transcript was generated automatically from the content and has not been checked or corrected manually.
So I think this will be delivered via Zoom. So we have Doctor Robert Lawrenson who is co chair of the UK Junior Doctors Counsel at the B M A. Thank you very much and hello conference and thank you for having me. It is my absolute pleasure to be able to talk to all of you at the Association of Surgeons in training. And I'm sorry, we can join you in person. But as I'm sure you're all aware, we've had a resounding result in our ballot for strike Axion that has kept us very busy. You are the epitome of British surgical training, highly skilled, highly educated and highly talented individuals. And there was a time where British education was famed across the world where British trained surgeons were the pioneers of surgical advancement and we still are and we still can be but make no mistake. Our entire profession is under assault and has been for years, a loss of respect, treated like numbers to fill rotors, MSRA exams to arbitrarily filter recruitment, disproportionate demands expected of us at the last minute, flittering around regions into multiple different hospitals and teams unable to become a valued member of the team, a loss of opportunity gaps that mean loss of clinic and theater time, tethered to the wards, post CCT fellowships to gain experience after some of the longest training programs in the world. And of course, a loss of pay 26.1% over 15 years and signals of more to come unless we stand up and fight. I was only elected in September to the B M A but the BMA runs as a continuum and I bear the legacy of those before me. So I want to say to all of you that I am sorry, I'm sorry for the training conditions. I'm sorry for the cost of training and I'm sorry for the pay erosion. It has been our collective shame to talk about pay and that has led us to pretending like it doesn't matter like we are worthless like we're expendable like we don't matter. And it's that shame that has weighed us down like a ball and chain attached to our feet that threatens to drown us during an unrelenting storm of waves of pressures crashing over the boat of our healthcare system. Every year, we work harder to bail out the sinking ship but our numbers dwindle and the tasks become ever more difficult. We have a long road ahead of us. Pay is the fight of today, but it's not the end to restoring our profession, the institutional inertia from government NHS England, the civil service and other vested interests is phenomenal. Their momentum is frightening and every one of their actions requires an equal and opposite reaction from us as a profession or we risk losing more. There was a time when Royal Colleges held royal influence in society as respected voices, but politics is in a different sphere. Now, Westminster's filled with professional politicians are lacking the integrity and honor that we have and that we hold as a noble profession. The boundaries of our profession are constantly tested and broken whether by other professionals, rotor managers are employers or think tanks, the media and the government, the pen and paper approach of the royal colleges has not worked. And so we must turn to the sword and shield of the union power in Westminster, only respect power. So I call on all of you to willed your influence to leverage your prestige and to speak and act out with courage, have the courage to stand for something or we will fall for anything. And some of you may just want to practice and not get involved with strike Axion. But unfortunately, we don't have the luxury to afford politicians to continue to unilaterally make these decisions about our profession any longer. We've already lost too much in doing so I wish we were in a position where we could just go about honing our skills and delivering high quality care. But I'm afraid that we've had the ladder pulled up and the rugs swept out from underneath us. We find history forming a dark storm around us now and we must be prepared to make our mark for our profession, the timing and set of circumstances. We find ourselves in demands, things from each and every one of us that we had hoped. We would never need to do. But it is incumbent on each and every one of us to rise to this moment in history and sees victory for ourselves, our future colleagues and our profession. Thank you. Conference. Thank you. Um And the interest of time I'm conscious that we're running over slightly. So, um what we could discuss this topic all day, we've had a true called arms there and plenty food for thought um throughout the session. So I'd like to thank all our speakers. Thank you sincerely for a lively discussion. Uh Bring this session to a close and we'll move on um, presently to Martin King and Roberta who bring the conference to a close with the prize giving ceremony. Thank you.