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Government should apologise to junior doctors, says health policy expert

BMJ 2016; 352 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i1124 (Published 23 February 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;352:i1124
  1. Nigel Hawkes
  1. London

The UK government should apologise for alienating England’s junior doctors, the leading US health policy expert Don Berwick has said.

Speaking at the health think tank the King’s Fund at a launch of a new report on improving quality in the NHS in England, Berwick said that it was vital to “de-escalate” the conflict between the government and the junior doctors, which would otherwise stand in the way of the quality improvement the NHS needs.

“The government should apologise” he said. “It would be an act of generosity and courage.” The junior doctors, for their part, should find a way to make seven day services work and embrace the policies outlined in NHS England’s Five Year Forward View.

Berwick, founder of the US Institute for Healthcare Improvement, is a long term enthusiast for the …

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