The country has a new government. It's an opportunity for all those wishing to influence change to take stock and then make their case - which is precisely what the MDU will be doing.

We know how important it is for the voice of the medical profession to be heard. In supporting our members day in, day out, we hear first-hand the challenges that exist on the frontline of healthcare. It is both our privilege and our duty to then take your experiences to the heart of Westminster, and make sure your voice is heard loud and clear all year round.

In the coming months, we will be wasting no time in continuing to put members medico-legal interests at the heart of our conversations with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), as well as with new and returning MPs.

Recognition and reward

One of the ways we will be doing this is by helping shine a spotlight on the exceptional hard work of NHS staff. In October, the MDU will be the headline sponsor of the annual NHS Parliamentary Awards in Westminster, where MPs from across England will gather to celebrate the dedication of NHS staff in their respective constituencies.

Recognition, a trophy, and a round of applause from a room of decision makers: all welcome, and well deserved. But alone, this is not enough. That is why we are pleased to have this opportunity to sponsor the event, because beyond the recognition for NHS colleagues, it will give us a valuable opportunity to outline our priorities for the new government to new and returning MPs.

What's on our campaigning agenda?

• Improved support for the health and wellbeing of NHS staff.
• Securing reform of the General Medical Council (GMC).
• Action on the costs of clinical negligence.

In a survey shortly before the 2024 general election, we asked our members how important it was for politicians to deliver plans to support the health and wellbeing of healthcare professionals, with 78.5% of respondents saying it was, "very important."

Pressure on frontline healthcare workers continues to be immensely high, and it is more important than ever for staff to properly supported so they can care for patients safely. As a starting point, we want the government and NHS employers - to borrow a phrase - to 'get back to basics.'

From looking again at rota patterns to staff rest areas being located close to wards, to proper, nutritional catering options for staff working long night shifts, we must care for the people who care for us.

Regulation

That care for the medical profession also needs to extend to how we regulate doctors. We have been calling for root-and-branch reform of the GMC for many years, and time and again over the past decade, governments have promised that legislation was imminent to reform the regulator.

Alas, that legislation never materialised. A blueprint of what a reformed regulator would look like is already out there, following an extensive consultation exercise by the DHSC in 2021. From accepted outcomes in fitness to practise hearings to a new appeals process, we want doctors to get this modernised regulatory regime as soon as possible.

The profession has been promised fairer, more proportionate, more timely way of doing regulation, and that is what we will be making the strongest possible case for them to get. We want the government to bring forward legislation in the first 12 months of this parliament.

Tort reform

Alongside healthcare professional regulatory reform, another area where the MDU has been assiduously campaigning for many years is tort reform.

The time has long since passed where governments could safely ignore the unsustainable cost of clinical negligence to the public purse, and we will be outlining this to the new ministerial team - and new cohort of MPs - in no uncertain terms.

We want to see appropriate compensation paid to those harmed as a result of clinical negligence costs. We also want to see the maximum amount of money retained in the NHS budget, so it can be spent supporting frontline colleagues to provide the very best and safest possible care for all.

The billions of pounds leaving the system every year in clinical negligence payouts just can't be ignored. We have been long told that a consultation on a range of proposals to reform the system was coming. To date, it hasn't.

We are urging Wes Streeting to look at these proposals as a matter of urgency and approve them for consultation. This is an important debate, and one the MDU is eager to engage in - even having the debate would be a welcome start!

There is much to discuss, and much to advocate for in this new parliament. Our members' medico-legal interests will be front and centre of all our engagement with MPs and government.