The man in charge of Weston General Hospital insists bosses would never “wittingly or unwittingly mislead” unions over staffing levels following claims they “abused” a deal to get seven junior doctors back into work off the picket line. University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Trust (UHBW) chief executive Eugine Yafele defended a decision to request the young medics return to duties during last week’s four-day strike.
He said the organisation was now planning for the next wave of industrial action and was working to rearrange patient appointments and treatments that had to be cancelled. The British Medical Association (BMA) accused the trust, which also runs the BRI and Bristol Children’s Hospital, of misleading it and NHS England after Weston hospital managers asked for the doctors to help cover workforce shortages, only for them not to be needed after all.
The BMA revoked the agreement – called a derogation – which is allowed as part of NHS strike contingency plans, and said UHBW was either unaware it had sufficient staff numbers or it deliberately misled the union. Mr Yafele told a trust board meeting on Tuesday, April 18: “I categorically want to assure the board that we do not mislead wittingly or unwittingly.
