Doctors consider legal move

Doctors said the accommodation was unacceptable

A hospital could face legal action over claims that it provided sub-standard accommodation for junior doctors.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has prepared a test case against Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.

Doctors at the hospital complained there was sometimes no hot or cold running water in the rooms.

Family residential accommodation was damp and had inadequate sound and light-proofing, they also complained.

Conditions at Crosshouse Hospital have been criticised

Earlier this year it was claimed that junior doctors at the hospital had been forced to sleep in their cars because the accommodation was so poor.

Dr Jim McCaul, chairman of the BMA's committee for junior doctors in Scotland, told the journal Hospital Doctor: "Trusts are not investing a penny in upgrading accommodation, and are just using delaying tactics.

"It's a scandal that professional people are supposed to live this way."

However, the NHS trust which runs the hospital said it had spent a six-figure sum bringing accommodation up to standard.

The move to bring legal action comes two years after the Department of Health (DoH) published guidelines on the standard of accommodation and other facilities.

Doctors on call

The guidelines also said overnight catering should be provided by hospitals.

But the BMA and the department have been locked in argument for the past six months over the type of accommodation covered by the new rules.

The DoH said it only referred to rooms and facilities used by doctors who were on-call, not those who lived there full-time.

Mr Roger Currie, of the BMA's juniors' committee, said: "They're basically trying to welch on what they agreed to."

He said junior doctors were "living in rat-infested holes", and it would take a legal challenge to force trusts to improve standards.

'End of its tether'

Paul Smith, editor of Hospital Doctor, said the agreement had proved to be a contentious issue.

He said: "It seems that in many hospitals across the country, both in Scotland and the rest of the UK, that these agreements just aren't being met.

"The BMA has been in discussion with the government for the past few months and has kind of reached the end of its tether."

A spokesperson for the hospital said talks with the BMA were ongoing.

The Ayrshire and Arran Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Crosshouse, said it had not received any formal complaint.

The trust also pointed out that it had spent £175,000 in the last year to bring accommodation in line with or above the minimum standards.