Resident (previously junior) doctors in the NHS are on strike again from today (Friday 14th October) – this time, for five days.
The latest NHS figures out this week show that in October 54,000 patients waited more than 12 hours for a bed in emergency departments, nearly 10% more than the same month last year.
With the elective waiting list now at 7.39 million, it is predicted the government will fall just short of its headline pledge to restore the 18-week elective care standard by the end of this parliament.
In the 49 days of strikes over the last two years, 1.5m appointments were rescheduled across England.
In their ballot, covering both their July action and this week’s, 90% of doctors voted in favour of striking, on a 55% turnout.
It is true that, after hard student years, leading to debts of up to £100,000, they have to rotate between different specialist training posts around the country; always anxious about their next rapid placement, and never a part of the team where they work. Their professional exams (needed to climb the ladder) are very hard, and expensive.
But Health Secretary Wes Streeting has set about improvements. He has pledged to ease the bottleneck by giving UK-trained doctors first choice of training places. The BMA resident doctors committee says some 30,000 doctors apply for 10,000 places.
This is debated. But Streeting’s office says that now only 8% of UK-trained doctors who apply for a post fail to get one. That’s eight percentage points too many, but they’ve been promised that further reforms are on the way.
But, who ever said they had a right to a job?
No other training system promises jobs. Some competition is useful in all careers. Their qualification is recognised worldwide. This is not true for many professions.
Their pay claim is greeted with a lot less sympathy. As soon as he was appointed, Streeting settled generously with a 22.3% rise over two years and an above-inflation average of 5.4% this year, making an average increase of 28.9% across three years.
The doctors got by far the most; nurses, midwives and physiotherapists are offered 3.6%. The doctors ultimately want another 29%, to restore their pay to where it once was before the bankers’ crash.
Under the Tory government, the public backed the striking doctors. Polls have now swung the other way, with 51% against and 40% in support. Even so, 40% is still quite high, considering the widespread anxiety about waiting lists.
Slipping support for resident doctors may come from hearing more about their pay, at £38,000 for beginners, rising to £109,000 as a first-year fully trained consultant, which reaches £145,000, with bonuses for some and private practice (adding up to £250,000!) for others.
What do you think?
As the NHS is vital to our society, are resident doctors really different from other public sector workers and professionals? Most would agree teachers, social workers and nurses are especially underpaid.
Or, given these hard times, the cost of living and stagnant pay for most, are they the most obvious candidates for public sympathy?
