The right wants to kill off the NHS. Striking doctors are playing into their hands | Polly Toynbee
www.theguardian.com
The BMA’s demand for pay restoration is a slap in the face for the health secretary who gave them a 22% rise – and it’s testing the public’s sympathy, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

Yeah doctors! Work all the hours and how do you expect to be renumerated fairly.

  • mannycalavera@feddit.uk
    5·
    25 days ago

    Serious question: if conditions were measurably better in UK hospitals would the pay issue matter as much? Given that doctors can earn incredibly high sums of money long into their careers such that I would hardly call them living in the breadline - if the working conditions were much better would they be striking?

    I think it’s interesting to ask because I have a friend in Spain who applied for a job in the UK. Junior doctor equivalent. She ultimately turned it down because she said “going from supporting an average of six patients each” in her current ward to “supporting potentially twenty” was a deal breaker. Forget the pay (which from the sounds of it was roughly equivalent). It sounded like an utter nightmare job to her. She has a young family so decided to stay put and, basically, be back at home in time for tea.

    If Junior Doctors here only had to do overtime on the odd occasion and looked after fewer patients on average do you think they’d be striking over pay?

    • spacedogroy@feddit.ukEnglish
      3·
      25 days ago

      talks were going well until the BMA resident doctors’ committee told its co-chairs that it could not approve the government’s deal because it did not address the BMA’s demand that resident doctors receive a 29% pay rise over the next few years.

      The BMA seem to be of the opinion that money is the deal breaker. As I understand it, negotiations were underway to improve conditions, but no dice.

      I feel like they’ve misjudged the government or public sentiment, or both.