Junior doctors granted a lifeline by the High Court to continue their fight against Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt if they raised £130,000 to cover his legal costs were today set to hit the target.
A huge response within hours of yesterday’s ruling saw more than 3,500 donations take the Justice for Health campaigners to within £20,000 of the target this morning. This is on top of the £180,000 already raised via crowdfunding to bring the case to court.
Labour Tooting MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, a former A&E junior doctor at St George’s hospital, yesterday said Mr Hunt had tried to silence junior doctors by requiring them to pick up the Government’s legal bill if they lost the case. “The junior doctors’ dispute will not be brushed under the carpet,” she told the Commons. “I will make the facts known again and again.” On Wednesday, Tamal Ray, the junior doctor who starred in the most recent series of The Great British Bake Off, tweeted: “Please please, donate anything you can spare to help us with the court battle.”
At an interim hearing yesterday, Mr Justice Green said there was public interest in hearing the case and allowed the application for judicial review to proceed. A three-day hearing is expected in September.
Justice for Health claims Mr Hunt is acting illegally by seeking to impose the new contracts from October 1. The judge rejected Mr Hunt’s demand for a £150,000 surety within seven days, giving the doctors until August 16 to raise the reduced amount.
Dr Francesca Silman, a GP trainee in Kentish Town and one of the Justice for Health leaders, told the Standard: “We will do everything we can to raise the money. Over the last nine months, people have grown to recognise that junior doctors are genuinely concerned about the safety of imposed contracts.”
To donate, visit crowdjustice.co.uk/case/nhs
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