Statement from the BMA on lifting Covid restrictions

Thanks Maw. I respect the opinion of the BMA. Comparing them to UNISON is beyond ridiculous.

Kali2 do you know what a learned body is?

The BMA is a union. A union that works for the interests of its members. They will have a corporate opinion on a whole range of things that affect their membership. If they are talking about things that affect their membership, that's good. However it must be borne in mind that they are talking as a Union. Because that's what they are.

So if they are presenting their opinion on things that are not to do with being representatives of their members, that should be viewed appropriately. They have members that no doubt have opinions informed by their specialities and experience. But they are still a Union.

And it worries me that we have a whole thread dedicated to telling us that the BMA think its a bad idea. They've thought other things are bad ideas too, and they've been proved incorrect. So listen to their opinion, by all means. But it's not definitive.

(p.s. Their agenda is to do their best for their members. And unless you're a doctor, that ain't you. I am worried that I seem to be in agreement with UG. This is unprecedented )

Germanshepherdsmum

Thanks Maw. I respect the opinion of the BMA. Comparing them to UNISON is beyond ridiculous.

BUT THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE!!!!!

Jeezy peeps.....

FarNorth

I'm thinking of getting ffp2 masks. It seems they're not as expensive as I thought and can be reused.
At the moment, I go almost nowhere and I'm sick of it.

I recently bought a pack of 20 FFP2 masks as my sister, visiting me from the US, had brought some with her and I liked the shape of them. They are coned away from the mouth so makes breathing easier when wearing them for long periods of time. I think they are the recommended mask in the US. I’ve only worn one for a couple of hours so far, I’m saving them for “best” but might wear them more frequently once restrictions are lifted to protect myself when among non mask wearers - the info I read says they are more efficient at reducing the intake of aerosols than the thin masks I usually wear.

Mine are not reusable ie cannot be washed but each one can be worn for 8 hours before disposal so as long as I air them between uses, I can wear them a few times.

I stand by what I said Alegrias. The members of the BMA are medics. I respect their opinion. The members of UNISON are a ragbag of all sorts of people.

Well I’d rather take the advice of the medically qualified BMA than a bunch of politicians led by a PM whose main agenda is to hang on to his job regardless of the effect that relaxing Covid regulations will have on the health of the nation. I too would like to hear the opinions of Chris’s Whitty, other scientists and epidemiologists on the planned changes to keeping us safe in this pandemic. Their silence is worrying.

Couldn’t agree more Bossy.

Germanshepherdsmum

I stand by what I said Alegrias. The members of the BMA are medics. I respect their opinion. The members of UNISON are a ragbag of all sorts of people.

UNISON, however, is still a Union. The BMA, is still a Union.

But I'm sure the membership of UNISON will be devastated by your assessment GSM. Prejudices showing, a bit.

Yes that was funny. I am in Unison obviously .

Germanshepherdsmum

Thanks Maw. I respect the opinion of the BMA. Comparing them to UNISON is beyond ridiculous.

I wasn’t per se.
I was just trying to illustrate the ethos of a Union shop steward (no matter who is represented).
I wasn’t saying UNISON is the BMA or NASUWT but the parallels are there.
If you look.
They look out first & foremost for their WORKERS.

Not a learned body. A Union

Not mutually exclusive..

I absolutely agree the BMA is primarily a union and does, very effectively what unions do.

Doctors have many specialties, a psychiatrist or neurosurgeon are unlikely to be experts on epidemiology or infectious diseases.

I remain a member of Unison (retired).

p.s. Their agenda is to do their best for their members. And unless you're a doctor, that ain't you. I am worried that I seem to be in agreement with UG. This is unprecedented

Me too Alegrias! Especially so since our posts on this had CROSSED.
?

MayBeMaw

^Not a learned body. A Union^

Not mutually exclusive..

Yes, they are...

A union is ... a union. It may be made up of people who are learned, but its still a union.

A learned body is.... a learned body.

I'm losing the will to live.

Doctors have many specialties, a psychiatrist or neurosurgeon are unlikely to be experts on epidemiology or infectious diseases

Where do politicians feature on your scale of 1-10 for knowledge of medicine I wonder?
I don’t know for a fact, but don’t all doctors start from a basic level of scientific A-levels, anatomy, Chemistry, Biology etc?

Before you die Alegrias - in the early part of my career I worked in the public sector and belonged to NALGO.

I used to get BMJ and BMA muddled up.

Of course the BMA is a union. Nothing more, nothing less.

They got themselves into a spot of bother a couple of years ago with regard to sexism

www.theguardian.com/society/2019/oct/17/bma-apologises-to-female-doctors-over-sexism

Well if the scale of trust was between the BMA and Johnson, my trust would be in the BMA every time.

Anyone who puts their trust in Johnson needs to give their head a wobble.

www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l6976

Doctors in parliament.

There was a professor on TV this morning pointing out that whilst there are more people in hospital who have tested positive for Covid, the majority are asymptomatic and being treated for non Covid ailments.

The numbers being admitted for Covid are decreasing as are the numbers on mechanical ventilation/ITU.

(Will try and find a link, but I was on Granny duty with a sleeping GC on lap and scrolling GN)

Medics are super intelligent - nobody is denying that. However, the Union they’ve joined speaks for them. The Union doesn’t canvass it’s members before making pronouncements to the media.

If an issue is big the members will be asked to vote on it.

Otherwise they pay their dues and get represented.

Unsurprisingly I agree with both Urmstongran and Alegrias1

All knowledge decays. They all do a medical training, but once they specialise, their other knowledge, apart from basic soon decays.

Politicians have a wide range of backgrounds and interests they have developed. i would imagine for many this last two years has been a fast learning curve. They have been in constant daily contact with infection specialists and epidemiologists and I suspect know and understand a lot more than some doctors, not directly involved with treating and caring for those with COVID.

Whitewavemark2

Well if the scale of trust was between the BMA and Johnson, my trust would be in the BMA every time.

Anyone who puts their trust in Johnson needs to give their head a wobble.

But you would say that Carrie.

Carrie? Haha. I did WWmk2.
Gremlins alert.