AIBU to agree with Starmer on the doctors' strike?

Give it a couple of months and Starmer will give them what they want. It's what Labour Governments do. This one already has twice. No wonder they keep coming back.

No, they are leaving because they can. It costs the country a quarter of a million pounds to train a doctor and half a million to train a senior doctor. We have far more applicants than places. We absolutely contractually should force them to work sufficient time in the NHS to repay that public investment.

The fact that other countries offer superior conditions is irrelevant. There will always be countries and private practices looking to poach NHS staff. Get the British public to pay for their training and lure the doctors over with better T&C's. We need to prevent this asap.

I’m losing sympathy for the striking doctors. There was a decade of 1% and 0% pay rises for teachers!
Out of the public sector employees resident doctors have been offered a decent package of late.
I’m not sure I agree with the training posts being removed as surely this is detrimental to patients.
I really feel for any patient needing care over the next 10 days and for the hospital staff who will be trying to patch the gaps in care.

How they can tie staff down?! Are you joking?!
The reason doctors are leaving is because the jobs in other country are FAR superior- they are treated better and have better opportunities.

Things that would be good to change:

Improving working conditions. Many doctors have to beg and pled even for their own wedding day off.
Increasing training places so that rotas are fully staffed?
Letting doctors chose where they want to work, rather than being issued training places the other side of the country to where their family and friends and support networks are.
Increasing training numbers so that they can do further training in speciality they are passionate about.
More money to employ consultants and GPs, so they they have a job at the end of years of training.

Even while at medical school, medical student have to pay their own fees for the first 4 years (£9k/yr), where no other health care professional does. Then post graduation, they have to pay thousands for their professional exams. Plus playing GMC and indemnity costs every year.
All for what? Patients verbally abusing them, working overtime for free most days, more and more work but less pay, no guarantee of a job.

Phew rant over, byeeeeee x

Context.

Relevant, established thread here.

I share his lack of sympathy but I don’t see how removing training places is remotely helpful.

The decision to take away the extra training spaces affects the strikers and non strikers. They could reduce the working week to 37 hours which would be better for all pay overtime if they stay late as they do in Australia.

Yep, I think it feels a bit tone deaf and manipulative. I do think they're right about the training issue too though but wonder how we can tie down staff that we have trained at a huge cost to stay in the NHS and not emigrate or work in the private sector.

Wes made the snowball and Starmer threw it.

Starmer refusing to fund training places as a result will directly negatively impact patients. He's made a terrible decision, interesting to know where wonder boy Wes is in all this.

I am losing sympathy a bit.

I completely agree with their points about training posts going to overseas doctors.

But no one's pay has kept pace with inflation since 2008 - that was the pinnacle after years of growth pre financial crisis! For most of us pay has devalued. I'm in the sort of higher paid financial occupation that doctors seem to think have done better, and wages have not kept pace with cpi let alone rpi, not even close, since 2008 (I've checked). In addition for those of us without DB schemes, pensions have been pretty crap in that time too.

This country is relatively poorer than it was and doctors have done better than most.