What We've Been Doing

Meetings with the Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland, Dr Michael McBride, and the Health Minister, Mr Michael McGimpsey - 26th April and 3rd May

We have met with both the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael McBride, and the new Health Minister for Northern Ireland, Michael McGimpsey MLA. Attached is a copy of the briefing document we took to the Health Minister, suggesting Northern Ireland adopt the solution proposed by the Royal College of Surgeons of England and Remedy UK - that all posts be made temporary until such time as a full and proper review can be carried out, ensuring no doctor is locked out of training long term.

RemedyUK Lobby of Westminster - 24th April

Tuesday 24th saw us in Westminster joining our UK colleagues in lobbying the UK government for changes to MMC and MTAS. You can read the Remedy report here. The event attracted huge publicity and was followed by an opposition debate in the Commons - the full text of which can be read here. You can also download an interview of Clare on Radio Ulster's Evening Extra here.

Email to Consultants - 20th April

On 20th April we emailed consultants across Northern Ireland - you can read the email here.

Question to Parliament - 18th April

Wednesday 18th saw Alasdair McDonnell (MP for South Belfast) take our cause to the Commons, as he challenged Tony Blair on MMC at Prime Ministers Questions. The full text of his question was:

Dr. Alasdair McDonnell (Belfast, South) (SDLP): Is the Prime Minister aware of the major disruption that will occur in NHS hospitals in Northern Ireland and in parts of Britain, too, on 1 August next, following the introduction of the hospital doctor training programme known as modernising medical careers? Will he advise the Secretary of State for Health to postpone the programme for a year until the administrative problems are sorted out?

The Prime Minister: Yes, we are aware of those problems, which is precisely why the review was announced, as we want to make sure that this happens in a better way for next year. I understand entirely both the complexities of the system that has been introduced and the need to make sure that it accords properly with the needs of the health care system in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. I would point out, however, that as a result of the measures that we have taken in Northern Ireland and elsewhere in the United Kingdom, there has been a huge increase in the number of junior doctors, a 70 per cent. increase, I think, in the number of training places and, of course, pay has gone up in real terms by 30 per cent.

The Lobby - 16th April

The Lobby on 16th April was a great success - thanks so much to everyone involved! Especially everyone who made it on the day and our political sponsors, Rev Dr Robert Coulter MLA (UUP), David Ford MLA (Alliance), Dr Alasdair McDonnell MLA MP (SDLP), Basil McCrea MLA (UUP), Carál Ní Chuilín MLA (Sinn Féin), and Dr Kieran Deeney.

Normally these events attract 10-20 MLAs, and we had over 50, including First Minister Ian Paisley and the new Health Minister Michael McGimpsey, who promised to make challenging MMC his first job once officially in office on 8th May. See the Press page to see the coverage we received. The info pack from the meeting can be downloaded here and the press release here.

Pictured are: Back Row - David Ford MLA, Ms Carál Ní Chuilín MLA, Rev Dr Robert Coulter MLA, Dr Alasdair McDonnell MLA MP, Dr Kieran Deeny MLA, William Hay MLA, Front Row - Chris Edmond (NI Medics), Dr Clare Newman (NI Medics), Michael McGimpsey MLA (Health Minister Designate), Dr Christine Hughes (NI Medics)

Letter to consultants - 4th April

On 4th April we sent a letter to every consultant in Northern Ireland - you can read it here.

The Meeting - 29th March

A big 'Thank You' to all those that came to the meeting (nearly 200 of you!). We hope you now feel that we can do something about MMC in Northern Ireland - this isn't a done deal! For those that couldn't make it the presentation can be downloaded here. See the Press page to see the coverage the meeting received.

Our press release following the meeting, which included supporting statements from all the NI political parties, can be downloaded here.

The results of the questionnaire carried out at the meeting, in summary:

• 76% people think the current round should be scrapped
• Only 3% feel MMC will provide adequate training!
• 70% have though of leaving medicine as a result of the changes
• 98% of people support our letter all consultants, asking them to withdraw from the process.

If you didn't receive a copy or missed the meeting and would like to complete the questionnaire you can download a copy and email it to us. To all those who have already emailed in thank you so much, we're just in the process of updated the results with all your answers.