Medics Hit Out At Hunt With #ImInWorkJeremy

Medics have hit back at Jeremy Hunt on social media over his comments about a "Monday to Friday culture" in the NHS.

Earlier this week the health secretary unveiled plans to make consultants work at weekends - and warned the British Medical Association (BMA) to reform doctors' contracts or face having changes imposed by the Government.

Currently, senior doctors can opt out of non-emergency work at evenings and weekends, a practice Mr Hunt wants to end.

A campaign launched by an anaesthetic trainee has been backed by thousands of people and seen doctors around the UK posting photos with the hashtag #ImInWorkJeremy during their weekend shifts on Saturday.

A post on the campaign's Facebook page, which had been liked by more than 4,000 people, said: "Right, so July 18th is a Saturday, and that's the weekend. You know, the weekend where none of us are working. Except a lot of us are. Doctors, nurses, porters, ODPs, clerical staff, physio, OT, radiographers, canteen staff, all in. On a Saturday.

"So, tweet Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_hunt) with the ‪#‎ImInWorkJeremy‬ either with a comment or a selfie.

"Together, we can get this trending and show Mr Hunt, that we are in fact in work."

The hashtag was among Twitter's top trending topics throughout the day on Saturday.

Reena Aggarwal, a registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology, said she had tweeted a photo from a 24-hour double shift she worked to cover for a shortage of staff.

She wrote on Twitter: "No one is against a seven day service but engage with doctors as part of the team not the problem."

Persis Bee, a doctor in London, posted a photo with the caption: "415am and in a&e working.. Just how I want to spend my Saturday morning."

The young medic behind the campaign told medical journal Pulse it was not a protest against weekend working but aimed to highlight the number of NHS staff already working to provide a seven-day service.

"It's an attack on Mr Hunt’s expectation that we as doctors can just wave wands and make things happen," they said.

In a speech earlier this week, the health secretary said 6,000 patients were dying needlessly every year because of a lack of a seven-day service.

He argued it was time for the BMA to "get real" on weekend working and vowed: "I will not allow the BMA to be a road block to reforms that will save lives."

BMA council chairman Dr Mark Porter said the plan was "nothing more than a wholesale attack on doctors".