EXCLUSIVE

Readers are divided over a popular petition calling for parliament to debate Jeremy Hunt's future as health secretary.

The sector was unsure whether Mr Hunt should leave as a result of a petition authored by doctor Ash Sadighi, calling for parliament to table a vote of no confidence against the minister. The petition has accumulated more than 210,000 signatures since being published on July 20 and parliament has pledged to debate the subject.

Although 50 per cent of C+D readers agreed Mr Hunt should resign, 50 per cent were against the prospect in a poll of 107 readers on the C+D website on July 27-30. 

Pharmacists speaking to C+D doubted whether removing Mr Hunt would remove the problems facing the health service.

Royal Pharmaceutical Society English pharmacy board chair Sandra Gidley said she had "no particular view" on the petition, but it was important for the sector to "get on and make things happen".

Calling for the health secretary to resign was a "waste of energy when there is so much we need to persuade him on", she added.

Contractor Graham Phillips said calls for Mr Hunt's resignation were "completely unfounded" as he had been "democratically elected". 

"We [don't] elect the government via Twitter. Alienating a minister with a strong political mandate is simply counter-productive," Mr Phillips told C+D. 

Brian Austen, former GP practice manager and director of pharmaceutical consultancy service EPOC Health Limited, added that he did not think replacing Hunt would "make any difference whatsoever to policy".

In the online petition, Dr Sadighi says Mr Hunt has threatened to "impose a harsh contract and conditions on consultants and soon the rest of the NHS staff".

The government responded that it would announce the date of the debate later this month, and stressed that it felt obligated to "do all it can to make NHS care at the weekend as safe as during the week through the delivery of seven day services".

Last week, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said he would apply for a parliamentary debate about the petition in September. 

On behalf of the 196,000 people who have no confidence in @Jeremy_Hunt, I will apply for debate when House returns > http://t.co/oSm5FWVyqG

— Andy Burnham (@andyburnhammp) July 27, 2015

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