Supporting nhs consultant doctors industrial action

[Lapland123]

I hope this has public support. Consultants have seen the largest pay erosion in public services- now 35 % pay erosion since 2010.

Add the pension debacle, where we are asked for real money now for a theoretical glitch in how pensions are calculated. The ‘real money ‘ bill now can be 6+ months of your take home pay annually. Yes, really.

Vacancies exist in multiple specialties and the day to day job is more and more difficult in the context of vacancies throughout the nhs

I hope we have support for industrial action due to this government’s disgraceful erosion of our pay though we are working harder than ever

There was a comment earlier in this thread that you can use your pension pot to pay the tax bill, but understandably if you go down this route you end up with a slightly smaller pension. It is called scheme pays and the BMA provides guidance to doctors.

www.bma.org.uk/pay-and-contracts/pensions/pensions-tax/nhs-pension-annual-allowance

Its not a one day solution, things take time. BUT, care to explain how paying more money will suddenly bring stress down and create more time?

More consultants would be willing to work in the NHS or to work more in the NHS, which would ease the workload

I think the issue @TreadLight though, is they don’t WANT to use their pension pot to pay for it. Happy to let funds accumulate in there for a nice retirement, but not so keen to pay the tax on it.

No, it simply means you are hiding facts.

care to explain how you are being asked to pay tax for nothing? That’s not how things work!
Tax is on income /income related benefits. There was a miscalculation and you are being asked to pay what you ACTUALLY OWE.
I paid all my taxes. Being a doctor doesn’t automatically exempt you from paying yours. Everyone pays their taxes. What’s your problem? Are you saying it’s because the money went into your pension pot not paid in cash? It’s still YOUR pension pot!

I'm a nurse and i support you 100%.

The pension stuff is just unbelievable, good consultants dropping PAs and retiring early because they are being hit with hypothetical tax for the future!

THIS is what it actually is!

More consultants would be willing to work in the NHS or to work more in the NHS, which would ease the workload @SpideyCraw

There are three times as many applicants for need school as there are places. Finding people willing to be doctors isn't a problem.

Where will more consultants suddenly come from?

Re-posting for more visibility

Also there are plenty of foreign trained top class doctors ready to work for the NHS for current pay scales.

NHS consultants, Tory chancellors. Seem to be cut from the same cloth.

I support you and all the doctors OP.

STRIKE!

84K for a consultant brain surgeon vs 70k for a train driver! Mental!

Can’t agree more!

However, I fully support pay rises for junior doctors, nurses and support staff in line with inflation.

I don't know if you're deliberately being obtuse or you find this stuff difficult to understand.

No strikes = no change in working conditions = NHS continues to haemorrhage doctors = more people die

On strike days there will be no elective activity and a level of cover for emergencies. Data on previous strike days has shown less mortality.

Be under no illusion, we are fighting for the survival of healthcare in the UK. With the govt we have in power, they will not allow a managed transition to a European style system. It will all go up in flames and we'll end up like the US where people regularly go bankrupt for medical expenses.

Student loans are astronomical in the US, but consultants here earn 400k-2.5m. It is shocking how poorly consultants are paid in the UK.

I’m not hiding anything, what a strange thing to say. I understand how tax works. I understand how their pension tax charges work. I spent years working in this field. I understand how the scheme pays election works - fine, if it’s a one off. I would recommend it - but repeatedly, year after year. Knowing your pension is going down the more you work. How does that make sense? Where is the incentive? Personally, I value our consultants and the work that they do and the lives that they save.

😂😂
Tell me then why my practice has been down several GPs for the last ten years, because we can't recruit? Tell me why many job ads for NHS consultants get zero applicants. You're living in a fantasy world.

NHS salary of a newly qualified entry level brain consultant. Do you know how much they make through private practice? Tax payer trained them for it through heavily subsidised tuition.

Consultants are being affected by this within 5 years of becoming a consultant. If they do scheme pay for 25 years + they'll have no pension at the end of it.

Thats why we need to open doors to highly trained foreign doctors.

We'd be fully staffed

A friend of mine is an obstetrician. To be safe, her unit needs 14 midwives per shift. Usually they have about 8. They cheer when it's 12. Can you not see that working week in, week out, in an environment that is dangerously understaffed is exhausting and pushes people away.

The doors are open. No-one is walking through them. And in fact the cohort of GPs who arrived from India/Sri Lanka 40+ years ago are retiring now and that's a major issue.

It has been very clearly explained, these are taxes on money you never earnt. If you've read the thread carefully and you still don't understand it then maybe you never will.

I can see why we need to pay midwives more. That’s obvious. Consultants? Not clear at all.

Honestly I don't think they should have to strike, or nurses for that matter. The number of vacancies alone for these positions should be ringing alarm bells in the heads of the powers that be. However, as these alarm bells are being ignored, I have no choice but to be in favour of strike action.