THE DANISH MODEL (3) 

In May the union representing family doctors took soundings from its members about returning their public sector licences on 31 August and charging patients thereafter. Well over 90% backed the idea.

Yesterday there was a meeting of the union to take the next step. In a surprising and dramatic twist, it voted 25-24 not to get its members to return their licences. The union's hardline Chairman resigned and was replaced by a moderate.

It's not easy to read the internal workings of another organisation; but it seems that the family doctors have looked long and hard at what happened to the teachers, and decided that it is better to spend the next nine months negotiating a new contract to come into force on 1 September 2014 than to incur the wrath of a united Parliament that wants more control over what doctors do.

I suspect that that was a smart move. United Parliaments have a habit of getting their way, particularly where spending money is concerned.

Walter Blotscher