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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you support a junior doctor strike?

275 replies

NC3435 · 01/10/2022 21:44

NC for this. To be clear, during the last strike, non training grade doctors were in hospitals etc as were consultants. Emergency work continued and A+E was functioning. The background to the dispute is that JDs want pay restoration to the levels in 2008/09 and the BMA has been attempting to engage with the government for a while without any acknowledgement. There is a staffing and retention crisis with more and more doctors leaving the country every year. Those of us still around are pretty burnt out from the last 2 years and things are getting worse - this includes patient care.

OP posts:
Toddlerteaplease · 01/10/2022 22:32

I'm
A nurse and worked through the last one. It was a complete damp squib! We managed well. So I don't think it had the desired effect.

DenholmElliot1 · 01/10/2022 22:35

No I wouldn't.

Don't enter a profession if you don't like the salary it pays.

Stompythedinosaur · 01/10/2022 22:36

I would fully support a strike. Junior doctors are treated appallingly.

Stompythedinosaur · 01/10/2022 22:40

DenholmElliot1 · 01/10/2022 22:35

No I wouldn't.

Don't enter a profession if you don't like the salary it pays.

You are aware that strikes are the reason we have a standard 8 hour working day and equal pay for women?

Should the workers who campaigned for these not have done so, because they had entered a profession that didn't have those things?

Livinginanotherworld · 01/10/2022 22:41

I support the rail workers and the postal workers right to strike, therefore it would be hypocritical of me not to support the junior doctors. We can’t afford to lose any more doctors. I would also support teachers right to strike too.
Yanbu.

Twiggywinkle13 · 01/10/2022 22:43

Absolutely I’d support them!

TabithaTittlemouse · 01/10/2022 22:45

Yes. As I said on the other thread today. I’m a nurse and believe junior doctors are treated appalling.

FixTheBone · 01/10/2022 22:47

I entered the profession in 2005.

Real terms pay has dropped by around 25%, and total career renumeration by around 35%. Working conditions have deteriorated and the pension has been diminished.

I fully support these strikes and will be in work 24/7 to ensure patient safety if needs be.

Consultants are already being balloted, there'll be real issues then...

winewolfhowls · 01/10/2022 22:47

Also commented yes on the other thread, most definitely

shivawn · 01/10/2022 22:47

100000000000%

sjxoxo · 01/10/2022 22:47

Yes I’d support them.. I would support any public sector staff who striked tbh, especially now. Beyond a joke. I really really hope the Tories are finished after this latest shambles… x

Lapland123 · 01/10/2022 22:49

Absolutely!
support pay restoration for all unlicensed sector workers - if the country wants a public sector, everyone needs to support this.

Quackajack · 01/10/2022 22:50

I would fully support I am a healthcare assistant and see how overworked junior doctors are they deservepay and conditions.

Porcupineintherough · 01/10/2022 22:58

I don't support a strike but I do support their cause iyswim? I don't think supporting the strike helps. I think what would help is lots of people getting furious about it and putting pressure on government to get it sorted.

Lunar270 · 01/10/2022 23:00

The police aren't allowed to strike and I think this should apply to all the services IMO.

So no, I don't support a strike. Should they earn more money? Perhaps but I'd rather see everyone beneath doctors get more money (including domestics).

SemperIdem · 01/10/2022 23:02

Not entirely sure what a yabu/yanbu would mean here but - yes I would support one.

Doctors, nurses and midwives who are saving/prolonging lives and helping delivering new lives safely deserve to be well compensated for their skill and expertise. They currently are not.

Brown888 · 01/10/2022 23:06

Completely support.
What those that don't support you don't understand is that the fuss is an attempt to stop the outpouring of doctors who are exiting the profession or emigrating. So the argument of "doctors shouldn't strike / it's a vocation" is a fallacy as your striking to save the profession. The cause is much greater than pay. It's for appropriate remuneration, recognition and working conditions so more people train / stay in the UK and eventually the NHS should improve

Pumperthepumper · 01/10/2022 23:08

I’d support it. I think we’re about to see many more strikes from all sorts of professions. If it forces a change then so be it.

Changechangychange · 01/10/2022 23:15

DenholmElliot1 · 01/10/2022 22:35

No I wouldn't.

Don't enter a profession if you don't like the salary it pays.

Pay was cut by 20% (actual pay, not “in real terms” pay) when the last contract was imposed on us.

People are striking to restore pay to the level it was when they entered the profession. That ok with you? Or if you enter a profession should you be forced to work for whatever pennies your monopoly employer condescends to throw at you?

That attitude isn’t working out so well for the government, and we are haemorrhaging healthcare workers. Can’t see a GP? It’s because thousands of them have left the profession.

(This applies to nurses, HCAs, AHPs, ward clerks, and other NHS admin, all of whom are paid badly - I’ll be supporting the nurses’ strike when it happens too).

Felixfeather223 · 01/10/2022 23:22

@NC3435 definitely support, it’s a lot of work to become a doctor I think it needs to be really well paid. I think all medical/health/ care jobs should be very well paid, and have much better conditions too.

1990s · 01/10/2022 23:27

Absolutely support any public sector workers striking. This government have shat all over all of them for too long.

I won’t lie and say I’m not nervous about how it works safety wise if junior doctors or midwives or nurses etc are not there, but trust the professions that emergencies will still be dealt with etc.

Felixfeather223 · 01/10/2022 23:29

DenholmElliot1 · 01/10/2022 22:35

No I wouldn't.

Don't enter a profession if you don't like the salary it pays.

@DenholmElliot1 that’s sort of a fair point, but the real terms salaries have decreased quite a lot and they probably change quite a lot along the many years it takes to qualify, it can be hard to change course when you’ve invested so much time, effort, and money on one professional pathway.
Also, we need being a doctor to be a high paid high prestige job to keep the quality of applicant up, it’s not an easy pathway and dropping the standards will be very regrettable.

Lunar270 · 01/10/2022 23:39

Felixfeather223 · 01/10/2022 23:29

@DenholmElliot1 that’s sort of a fair point, but the real terms salaries have decreased quite a lot and they probably change quite a lot along the many years it takes to qualify, it can be hard to change course when you’ve invested so much time, effort, and money on one professional pathway.
Also, we need being a doctor to be a high paid high prestige job to keep the quality of applicant up, it’s not an easy pathway and dropping the standards will be very regrettable.

Show quote history

But it's not like anyone looking to be a doctor is blissfully unaware that the NHS is bad; varying pay or not. People have choices. If they choose a career in the NHS then there's not much point moaning about it.

And I'd argue that prestige is unimportant too. Anyone looking for prestige probably isn't right for the job

Vinorosso74 · 01/10/2022 23:44

Yes, I would. I think all workers should be

Vinorosso74 · 01/10/2022 23:45

... all workers should be able to be part of a union.