Is there sympathy for consultants striking?

[LadyTemperance]

Just as the thread title says, do you feel sympathy for the consultant doctors pay demands. I understand their pay has not gone up for many years meaning they have had a cut in real terms. That being said a quick google tells me they start on 88k and have regular pay rises not based on performance.
They are hardly on the bread line are they?

I suspect their isn’t but unlikely nurses they maybe more likely to have the financial means to continue striking.

no

It’s hard to, I think. Of course they’ve had to work long and unsocial hours and take many professional exams to become a consultant and the point of a strike is to inconvenience people, but it feels hard to justify a strike when the starting salary is so far above what most people will ever achieve.

Taking action that’s going to impact negatively on health and well being, is always going to be difficult to justify.

No, they’re well paid and the job is something they’ve trained for years to do, it shouldn’t be a surprise to them.

Nurses & junior doctors yes but consultants I can’t find any sympathy for.

Yes I support them because I want these highly qualified, experienced professionals to continue to work in the NHS and not move elsewhere.

Not even vaguely and a lot of my friends are consultants. I think it’s shocking quite frankly.

No. They're well paid by any measure.

Doctors are leaving to work in other countries where they are better paid in their droves. I work in the NHS and it is terrifying how many are leaving. It kinda doesn't matter whether people think they're well paid or not - other countries are offering more and doctors are voting with their feet. If we want to retain a functioning healthcare system we're going to have to pay them more to be able to retain them.

Their pay has been eroded in the same way as that of nurses, junior doctors, teachers and others, following pay freezes and below inflation increases.

I support them all in equal measure.

Absolutely support them. I worked in the NHS and honestly I could see how unhappy and stressed they were.

Most will be working in unsafe services right now, that's the reality of the NHS (the service I worked in was unsafe and the consultant was caring, thorough - and hence on her knees and close to going off on stress leave permanently).

Their pay has dropped in real terms by something like 25% since the Labour government came in.

In my home country (Australia) and many others doctors would earn substantially more, and also work in much, much, nicer premises in better funded services due to the health system being both public and private.

If we want to keep the consultants we have, we have to pay them more.

There is some research indicating that as women join and become the majority in well-paid workforces, salaries come down. I believe medical students are now more than 50% female.

Yes I absolutely support them, we should be paying these people what they are worth and that won’t be apparent until we lose them.

No I don't support them. My sympathy and support goes to the lowest paid workers as these are the people who will be hit the hardest by inflation etc but also generally lack the ability (skills, qualification, training) to just 'get a better job', which seems to be what the government think they should do.

Consultants do an important job, obviously, but we have a couple in the family and they have multiple holidays a year abroad, big houses and new cars etc - they are not struggling financial despite inflation.

Yes. In literally any other role people that experienced/qualified with that much responsibility would be earning at least twice what they earn. If we don’t want doctors to leave medicine or stay in medicine but leave the country there needs to be some recognition of that.

No. Compare their pay to the nurses and spot the difference. Lots of sympathy for nurses though.

Kay Burly this morning said public sector pay doesn't cause inflation as its all free service so paying a 60% raise is nothing and should be handed over immediately. 😂😂😂

If I was a consultant I would leave the UK. The mindset that they are ok so should be grateful perplexes me. Why would anyone continue to work for lower pay for a shitty employer if they have better choices?

They can earn multiple times more, have a superior quality of life and relatively stress free and pleasant work environment elsewhere. Plus there is a global shortage of expertise - they are being enticed to leave!

When you or a loved one have a serious health condition, you really want to be seen by a world class expert in that condition. Which the Uk had/has, but won’t in the future.

Absolutely, support the strike, the Americans and Australian healthcare systems are recruiting underpaid doctors from the UK. If you want a functional NHS with enough Doctors in it you should support the strike. It doesn’t matter how much you think they should earn, what matters is how much other countries value them, and it’s more than they are getting in the UK.

Consultants should absolutely have a competitive salary given the skills and responsibility they have. They are relatively underpaid in this country. A starting salary of £88k after all those years of training, unsociable hours, constant exams etc is not that high in todays money. These people have lives in their hands and have overall responsibility of many patients.

Compare the pay with the same level in other countries and there is a huge disparity. People who make such huge difference to people’s health and well-being need to be well remunerated.

The argument against very high taxes on the rich is that we need to keep them in this country rather than taking their talents elsewhere. Funny how the government doesn't apply the same logic to highly skilled doctors.

I mean I wouldn't rely on Google for a start.

And secondly - I imagine their working conditions are worse in the NHS than private and they would probably get paid more in private. So yes I support their right to strike if they feel so aggrieved, as I would anyone's.

This country will have no Doctors left. I’m a GP recently in remission from cancer. Incredible people studied long and hard to save my life; pay them what they’re worth. I don’t understand why people are so sneery about folk who have dedicated their lives to saving ours. The NHS is a horrible environment to work in right now. Consultants are striking for pay restoration and are working in a demoralising system. We’re talking about the people who have the skills to transplant organs, evacuate brain bleeds and repair broken hearts.They are voting with their feet and leaving for country’s that value their true worth. We will all suffer in the long run. That we are questioning whether they deserve a decent quality of life shows how far we have fallen. BTW, I support the public sector in its entirety, not just the medics.

Yes.

NHS consultants are by definition incredibly caring and skilled professionals.

Like the nurses (and the teachers), they are striking over dangerous conditions and chronic underfunding, not just pay.

If the government wasn't running the NHS into the ground then these strikes wouldn't be happening.

I don't blame the messengers, and anyone who does is unreasonable in the extreme.

It's shocking how little some people value expertise and medical skill.

JenniferBarkley · Today 11:06
Yes I support them because I want these highly qualified, experienced professionals to continue to work in the NHS and not move elsewhere.”

This. People seriously think that £88K (pre-deductions) is fair recompense for their expertise?

There will be no NHS in 10 years if things don’t change drastically.

Not just no NHS - limited ability to be seen privately either. The private waiting lists for some specialities near me are already longer than the NHS ones. Unless something changes soon, we're going to end up like developing countries where the super rich go abroad for the best treatment and everyone else has to take their chances with whatever and whoever is left.