21st July 2015
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has been on the receiving end of a Twitter campaign to show the NHS is working hard to run its seven-day service. Launched by an anonymous anaesthetic trainee, the #ImInWorkJeremy campaign succeeded in trending across the social media outlet, rallying support from all areas of the profession. Coming on the back of Mr Hunt’s words earlier this month - that ‘6,000’ people are unnecessarily dying every year because of NHS weekend closure - the founder stressed that this was not meant as a protest, rather a ‘reminder’ that a large fraction of NHS staff are already working to make sure we have 24/7 service.
Earlier in July Hunt told the BMA to ‘get real’ as he announced removal the opt-out from doctors’ contracts, which means they are now obligated to work Saturdays and Sundays. The online response from GP staff was strong. Via Facebook: ‘Right, so July 18th is a Saturday, and that’s the weekend. You know, the weekend where none of us are working. Except a lot of us are...So, tweet Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_hunt) with the #ImInWorkJeremy either with a comment or a selfie...
‘Together, we can get this trending and show Mr Hunt that we are in fact in work.’
Several lobby groups have supported the campaign, including Keep Our NHS Public, writing: ‘Hashtag for health works who want to alert the world when working 24/7 is #ImInWorkJeremy. Hope you’re listening @Jeremy_Hunt.’
Hopes of some grand unification may be dashed, however, with some members of the profession speaking out against the movement. From a salaried GP: “I don’t see the point. He knows a lot of us work weekends – why should he care? He is a politician and has an agenda to sell...and has done so brilliantly. He has out-thought the BMA and professional bodies and has the public believing we don’t work weekends...we should be tweeting the BMA and asking what are their plans and why do they have the inability to provide any credible opposition or plans to the government.”[1]
But a spokesperson for the media outlet made clear that ‘this is not an attack on other specialities, it’s an attack on Mr Hunt’s expectation that we as doctors can just wave wands and make things happen.’
At present, over 5 million tweets have been registered on the platform, with others commenting on the positive aspects of the campaign’s press coverage; ‘I think it is important that you guys made a voice’ (Vinci Ho, Pulse Today).[2]