I am a Junior Doctor about to go on strike, ask me anything.

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I am a Foundation year 1 doctor who started in the NHS in August. I have been reading some things online and have seen some quite differing opinions. I wondered if anyone had any questions.

Hows your first year going...is it what you expected?
Are you striking based on pay or the state of the NHS?. What % rise do you think Drs should get? ..... I've no idea what salary junior doctors are paid by the way!

What’s the basic salary of an F1 these days? And how much does it go up in F2?

What are you striking for? You personally. I’m assuming given you only started very recently you were fully aware of the wages. If it is pay you’re striking for and you get don’t the amount you want, what other career will you go into instead?

No questions, but thank you for all you do.

How have you been impacted by working alongside colleagues who have been through so much during the pandemic and restoration? What impact does low morale in a team have on you and what recognition and support would you like from your union (and Trust)?

Thank you for what you do - and good luck with the strike.

@Ilikewinter Thank you those are great questions.
I am now enjoying the job. In the year you do three 4month rotations. My first was in Respiratory and now I’m in Urology.
Respiratory was intense. We were consistently understaffed, people were burnt out and took sick leave which was a constant cycle. We also felt unsupported and I felt like I was making a lot of decisions people with more experience should be making.

Now I’m on a surgical job it’s very different. I feel much better supported but the amount of jobs to do and the amount of patients we have is much higher than previously. We are a junior doctor down, which means locums are employed who haven’t worked in the trust before and so aren’t actually very helpful.

I would say overall it’s hard, I did expect it to be hard though.

I personally am not striking for an increase in pay. Although I wouldn’t say no to it obviously. It’s more about trying to retain doctors, have more staff, better conditions. I love my job when we are fully staffed to safe levels. When not it is unsafe and extremely anxiety inducing.
I do think we should have a pay rise in line with inflation as should everyone.

It seems unfair that we come out of university with up to 100,000 debt and a lower salary in comparison to the doctors doing our same job 10 years ago.

Thank you for all that you do. I support your strike action.

My question is about whether you regret your choice of career path. Knowing what you know now, would you choose medicine again? (My dd is about to embark on a medicine degree and I'm worried!)

@SummerBaby23 basic pay is about £29,000 but our rota is usually an average of 48 hours but can be up to 72 hours a week. If working on GP or psychiatry you would usually get basic pay. If doing a rota like surgery or medicine where you do lots of nights or on calls you can get up to around 40,000 for that three much rotation. I would guess the average salary for an F1 would be about 34,000 as you do a mix of types of shifts.
F2 the basic pay is 34,000 and the extra pay is a similar percentage on that.

@Meandfour
I am more striking for conditions more than pay. If we increase pay then more doctors will stay. I honestly don’t know what happens if more doctors leave. I am worried about the NHS.

I would probably move abroad if conditions don’t get better. I’m considering New Zealand as are a lot of my colleagues.

Thank you for answering. Good luck with your strike and with the rest of your training.

Are you fit?

@Isthisexpected I would say you can see how burnt out everyone is. Everyone tries their best but you can see they are tired from it. Especially the registrars and nurses. I think they and we want to feel appreciated and like they realise how much they did during COVID.

I fully support the junior doctors-I really hope the government listen.

How do you and your colleagues feel about other sectors striking, particularly the teacher strikes-are you generally supportive?

I haven't really got any questions for you OP, but I just wanted to say I support you! I've been a nurse for nearly 20 years. I've always felt sorry for newly qualified doctors. There just aren't enough! I always remember working on AMAU a few years ago where a F1 doctor was stuck in work missing bed time with her child again...She just seemed so sad and deflated. I don't think people appreciate you may have finished your working hours, but it doesn't mean you can leave.

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves
I love this question.
I would honestly choose anything else. When going into medicine it was because I liked science, talking to people and communication and I thought it was good money with job security. Now growing up a bit I realise I could have chosen anything and there are many more lucrative options where I wouldn’t have lives in my hands.

I would say I love parts of my job and it’s obviously extremely rewarding. I don’t know if I will continue to be a doctor forever but also I’m not sure what I’d do instead so I’m carrying on for now.

When I was 17 though no one would have changed my mind on it.

@Shinyandnew1 I am very supportive of all sectors striking. Teachers definitely. My parents were teachers so I understand their need for a strike.
I am also very supportive of the nurses strike. I am in awe of the nurses I work with on a daily basis.

@Tiredmum100 thank you. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without the nurses helping me over the last few months. Everyone I’ve encountered has been so supportive and even though extremely understaffed will always help.
Thank you for all you do.

Thanks for answering. That's what I was afraid you were going to say.

DD knows it's going to be hard, of course, but I don't think she can really have any concept as to how hard without actually doing the job. Like you, there is no talking her out of it. She is well aware that there are many other much easier ways of making money, but medicine is the only route that makes sense to her right now.

I can only hope that things will have improved by the time she qualifies. I wish you all the best with the strike action, and also for your own future, whether you decide to stay in medicine long term or not.

How do you feel about Junior Doctors starting salary being only a couple of k higher than nurses starting salary? Do you think you should get paid more in comparison or are you happy with that?

Solidarity wave from an acute discharge-assessing physio.

Will there be only consultants in on strike days?

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves
Good luck to your daughter. I am very hopeful it will be better for her. Thank you.

no questions - I am worried about missing chemo - but 100% support the strike

Thank you for all you do

@Overthebow
Nurses deserve higher pay than they have in general. I think they work for free during their degree.
Nursing students are extremely helpful however medical students not so much. So I think they probably do deserve a similar amount.
I obviously think we should be payed more but so should they.

No questions, but I want to thank you for being a junior doctor, with all that entails, and to let you know that I support you and your NHS colleagues when they strike, it is the only possible reaction to the mess the current (Tory since Cameron) government has made. Clapping doesn't cut it.