Health department helped draft HEE letters encouraging trusts to implement junior doctor contract, shows investigation

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The Department of Health in England helped to draft letters sent by Health Education England to NHS trusts encouraging them to implement a new contract for junior doctors, a newspaper investigation has found. The Independent reported that it had seen internal emails showing that the health secretary for England, Jeremy Hunt, and his officials collaborated with HEE, an arm’s length body of the health department, to introduce the new contract.1 The new contract for junior doctors in England began phased implementation in October 2016, despite BMA members voting to oppose the deal.23 HEE is a non-departmental public body that, the Independent said, provides £3.65bn worth of funding …