Doctors demand taxpayer-funded iPhones

Telegraph

6 hours ago

The UK's trade union for doctors wants taxpayer-funded smartphones so they can carry out NHS and university work.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has made lobbying for an iPhone or Android phone for all medical staff a policy of the union.
Doctors said they were using WhatsApp groups on their personal phones to share private patient information and discuss medical treatment.
Medics at the BMA annual conference in Liverpool overwhelmingly passed a policy to 'demand centrally funded mobile phones be made available to all medical staff for all their NHS work and/or university work'.
The motion, put forward by the South West Regional Council, which represents the area's public sector bodies, argued that doctors 'should not have to use personal mobile phones for work' on the grounds of privacy and wellbeing.
Work-life balance
It passed with 94 per cent of participants voting in favour.
The NHS employs some 1.7 million people across the UK, including around 200,000 doctors and more than half a million other clinical staff.
Doctors argued that it would improve work-life balance and reduce the risk of abuse or harassment if they had work phones, instead of using their own.
The result of a strike ballot from resident doctors – formerly called junior doctors – on whether there should be strikes over pay is due in the next two weeks. Consultants are also set to vote on whether they should follow suit.
The doctor proposing the motion said personal numbers 'are added to group chats, contact lists and office forms'.
'Doctors are expected to be constantly available. Messages late at night, last-minute rota requests, fast WhatsApp groups have become the backchannel for firefighting, stuffing crises. Organisations rely on constant access and often use guilt and coercion rather than proper workforce planning,' she said.
She also claimed it was not just about 'who pays for the phones' but about using technology 'without compromising data security' and giving doctors 'the freedom to disconnect when they're not at work'.
Emma Andrews, of the residents doctors' conference, said: 'On Thursday, I used six different apps on my personal phone to do my job safely and to do it well.
'Half the team wouldn't have been able to find the patient if we'd not used WhatsApp to describe where this obscure clinic room was,' she said, referring to one patient.
'I was a civil servant and I was provided with a phone [and] a laptop because I needed it to do my job. It also provided security to the departments I worked in, so that government business only happened on government devices. It's not unreasonable to expect an employer to provide the tools I need to do my job. We shouldn't be subsidising the NHS with our data, with our battery life or with our work-life balance.'
Reducing 'burnout'
Dr Latifa Patel, chairwoman of the BMA's representative body, said: 'Many workplaces offer devices for professional communication, and the NHS should be no different.'
She said doctors often work across multiple sites and 'need to be contactable' and were increasingly relying on their own personal phones.
'Using a work device, like a mobile phone, can help to define boundaries between work and home life, and significantly reduce burnout – something we know many doctors experience, and which is undoubtedly contributing to them either reducing their hours or leaving the NHS altogether,' she said.
'We also know some doctors are impacted by inappropriate contact, such as abuse or sexual harassment, sometimes in the form of unwanted messages and communication outside of work. Removing the reliance on personal devices is an action employers can take to mitigate these risks.
'We invite the Government to work with us to see how these devices can be introduced in the NHS as part of efforts to improve doctor wellbeing.'