Struggling to make ends meet as a junior doctor. AIBU?

[HK3444]

Struggling to make ends meet. Rent has gone up, food bills are going up and struggling to support my kids.

I’m someone worked really hard through medical school, it felt like endless exams and accumulated student debt with the hope that I’d be able to support my family comfortably at the end of the degree and but also feel job satisfaction bettering the health of others.

Not sure what this was all for… can’t believe I’m in this situation as a doctor

It’s against the guidelines for a reason. It’s exploiting the forum.

I agree that Junior Doctors should be paid far more than the £14.00 per hour that I’ve seen as an example of their current pay on the News. That their pay is determined by people who don’t have half the qualifications that the JD’s HAVE to get to be able to practice is, IMO, the biggest problem.
If the Government (top-down) were to be audited by an external Company, the Civil Servants salaries and numbers of employees could be cut by half, and if the Hospital Trusts were similarly audited, they would no doubt suffer the same fate! The savings made by reducing unnecessarily high salaries in these two industries would mitigate the sum needed to pay JD’s and all Doctors closer to what they are worth!
Time for a huge re-set…

Why would the NHS collapse faster if the people working in it are paid more? And why would the effect be faster than if JD downed tools and got jobs elsewhere?

A healthy economy starts with a healthy nation.

Doctors should be paid double what they are on considering the amount of learning the do, the responsibility of other people’s lives, the unsociable hours they do.

Without them we are nothing.
We are losing more and more trained doctors either moving abroad or taking an early retirement.

We are an ageing population with more and more people off sick from work with various health issues because they are still waiting to be seen by a doctor.

Surely that can’t be healthy for the economy on the long run.

Are you voluntarily missing my point?
Firstly I disagree with that £14/h salary, some of you have thrown out that number but from what's I've seen it's the very bottom of the scale and not what the average would get (closer to £19/h).

Secondly, we are talking about doctors who are still in training, and it is normal that their pay reflects that. What is not normal is the expectation that they do the work of a fully qualified doctor, in terrible conditions due to chronic underfunding.

My personal opinion is that anyone who works for the public sector shouldn't expect high salaries because no society can afford it. They should be choosing that career because they find it interesting and fulfilling, and they deserve good working conditions.

My eldest (16) is doing 4 A-Levels (Physics, Computer Science, Maths x 2). Predicted straight A's so luckily won't end up a teacher like me (thank God!)
He wants to have a decent standard of living so will probably go into accounting like his dad.
Definitely wouldn't want him to become a doctor!

I find it hilarious that the vast majority of MN think you have to be a Doctor/Accountant/Lawyer to earn 'good money'

My brother is an accoutant - earns £60k/

My BIL is a bricklayer - earns a £1000 A DAY.

Friend of mine does nails - she earns £1000 a week.

🤣🤣🤣

You mean you actually don't know everything!? Things aren't as clear cut as you say they are??

There is a lot of external factors on everything that needs fixing. The NHS, whilst massive, is just one part of it.

Also, these cuts are potentially another really bad decision by our leaders. Because where is this money coming from?

If still in training, why is the strike having such a dramatic affect on the NHS ?

Because we don’t have a magic money tree. In order to pay the NHS staff a 35% pay rise - it is going to cost tens of billions - therefore new X-ray machines, repairs and infrastructure simply won’t happen. Without basic infrastructure investment the doctors can’t do their jobs at all.

We simply can not continue to use an out of date model which the NHS is with over seventy million users. It’s collapsing under its own weight.

Care to elaborate?

Junior doctors are still in training
They actually require a lot of support from nursing and allied staff in the first few years
including their own supervisory staff

This is why they don’t attract a high salary because there needs to be a paid team supporting them

Once they are able to function independently clinically the salary should rise in a more fluid manner to adequately compensate the job they are performing - that would mean keep very junior on low salary but speed the increase from the junior registrar level - it is the salary bands that is the problem rather than a blanket increase needed

That makes the job more attractive for people to be able to see an improvement in salary over less time

Quite.

One comes with sick pay, holiday pay and a generous pension, however cleaners and dog walkers on the other hand have to pay that out of their hourly rate.

Was it 21bn?? Well there you go @Newchapterbeckons there was enough to give everyone in the NHS a 31% pay rise if they felt so inclined

ETA

Oops, never mind, I see you've moved the goal posts in this discussion again a few posts later.

Hunt handed out £20bn (Sorry it wasn't 21bn) in business and personal tax cuts.

Which Magic Money tree did he shake to find that money?

I think you need to do a bit more research into what this Govt can find when an election is near (ish)

No. Because I have in previous posts and in discussion with other poster, and you never provide anything to back up your statements or elaborate when people ask you to.

Pay attention. To others and the world. Then think it through. And then decide if you're angry, and why you actually are.

Ha ha! 😂 because we have a spare 21 billion just floating around

You can’t elaborate because it’s not true!

I am not sure why you are having a dig at me.

I am an nhs consultant with some way to go on the mortgage on my one home. I am lucky to have a home in London but it is quite expensive. I have no second home or boat and will be working till 67. I am ok with my pay, did not join the consultants strike and am grateful for my future pension. I have dedicated my life to the nhs and have had no sick leave in 25 years and have never cancelled a patient’s appt ever.

I support the junior doctors having a few short strikes of 2-3 days max if it will lead to a realistic pay rise for them and better conditions. Because I don’t want them all leaving and if they do, then there will be fewer juniors but fewer consultants in the future. We need doctors to stay in this country to ensure safe and high quality care.

I have tried to be polite with you but I won’t engage if you are going to make passive aggressive digs about me and imply I don’t care about dying patients.

Well that's what they gave away at the last budget (I see someone corrected it to £20bn) so apparently we did.

Strange how money is so often available when it's for things the government want eh?

Posters have said jd should be paid less as in training - they are qualified up to the level they are currently working at but at the same time being trained to work at the next level and to take on even greater responsibility.
This week the consultants are covering but they have to be hand held to do the more basic things they don't do on a regular basis such as prescribing

Fair enough.

Though troll-hunting is also against guidelines.

Yes i'm starting to think i'm trip trotting across a bridge now.

The bottom line is this:

This is a ruinous strike action led by militant union leaders that was designed to fail.

No political party supports it. There is zero support from the public and a growing anger at the danger and risk of a six day strike.

GE is in a few months - and this shit show will be handed over to Labour and then what happens? They can’t agree to it either because demanding 35% is totally unreasonable by any measure.

Such a bunch of mugs for going along with such militancy in the first place. Too many have infiltrated and have other agendas.

This is going to end very badly with the medical profession’s credibility and integrity in utter tatters.