Pressures on junior doctors
The Rt Revd Peter Forster, Bishop of Chester, said the Government's proposed changes to junior doctors' contracts are a good thing, but the Government has gone about implementing the changes the wrong way, particularly given the amount of stress medics are under. He was speaking as junior doctors walked out for a second time in less than four weeks over the potential changes to pay and conditions. Bishop Peter said, ‘It isn't just the hours. It's the way they oscillate from days to nights to unsocial hours, sometimes ten, twelve hours at a go, maybe with relatively few senior doctors in the hospital overnight. People who work in that sort of way need handling with considerable care and quite frankly kid gloves. I think the Government tried to make well-meaning changes thinking that the argument was on their side, without properly stopping to take people along with them.’ Since he spoke, the Government has decided to impose its proposals on the junior doctors, which is likely to cause even more aggravation.
The effects on Christians of Government’s counter-extremism strategy
Last year Christian Concern took a look at the Government’s counter-extremism strategy, and identified a number of worrying implications for Christian freedom. They commented, ‘Although we need to recognise that the government is trying to address a serious problem, the strategy in its current form is not the best way to proceed. This is because the policy threatens the freedom of the innocent, and will not be as effective as it should be in tackling the real problem.’ Christian Concern has begun a campaign to raise more awareness that Christian freedoms are under threat if the strategy isn’t amended, saying, ‘The only way that the guidelines will be amended is if Christians speak out and make the Government aware of the problems.’ See also the article below, about Ofsted as a regulator of religion.
Long-distance admissions for psychiatric patients must end
The phasing out of unacceptable long-distance admissions for severely mentally ill patients and quicker access to acute psychiatric care are two key recommendations for improving services in England. The Independent Commission on Acute Adult Psychiatric Care was set up by the Royal College of Psychiatrists last January, in response to growing concern about the provision of acute in-patient psychiatric beds across the country. It found that access to acute care for severely ill mental health patients is ‘inadequate nationally’ and in some cases ‘potentially dangerous’. This is especially because there are ‘major problems’ both in admissions to psychiatric wards and in the provision of alternative care and treatment in the community. Five hundred mentally ill people have been admitted to hospitals over 50km away, largely because of no acute in-patient beds or suitable alternatives in their home area. Pray for an end to inequalities of care, hospital bed-blocking, and inadequate residential provision.
Ofsted to become a national regulator of religion?
Christians in the UK are concerned that a Government proposal to curb Islamic extremism will affect religious liberty for churches. Prime Minister David Cameron announced a five-year plan last year to weed out growing Islamic extremism among Muslim youth. However, many fear the unclear language in the plan may allow the government to target Christian Sunday schools and youth groups. The proposal comes two years after the British government investigated reports that radical Muslims plotted to overtake and radicalise the Birmingham public school system. The government responded to the threat by mandating that the education curriculum must incorporate the British values of ‘democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.’ According to an article in Christianity Today, the Evangelical Alliance called the plan to monitor education of religious youth a ‘fundamental threat to religious liberty.’ The proposal requires all religious groups and institutions to register their children’s activities and allow government officials to visit for inspection if they meet for six hours or more a week.
