Articles 23 and 24 state: “Everyone has the right … to just and favourable conditions of work” and “Everyone has the right to rest and leisure.” The conditions under which junior doctors are expected to work rarely conform to these articles. Hospital trusts now try to ban suspended doctors from meeting or talking with colleagues in their own homes. Article 20 states that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. This has not stopped health authorities from seeking the dismissal of doctors who have allegedly brought them into disrepute by expressing concern about the quality of health services or the performance of a hospital trust. Article 19 states that everyone has the right of freedom of expression. Similarly, statements about suspended doctors that may damage their reputation and that allegedly come from the health authorities often appear in the media. Suspended doctors commonly have their personal mail intercepted, opened, and forwarded only after delays. Article 12 states that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his correspondence, or to attacks on his honour and reputation. Yet in the past 12 years not a single doctor has had such a hearing when facing the loss of his or her rights to practise as a doctor in the NHS this contrasts greatly with the openness of the General Medical Council. Article 6 of the European convention echoes this. Article 10 states that everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal in determination of rights and obligations. EDITOR-The re-publication of the 1948 United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights1 is a reminder of how completely this declaration and its sister, the European Convention of Human Rights, are ignored within the NHS.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |