Pay increases won't sort out work conditions and the NHS' other problems.
I agree with Pure. The thing that upsets DD most is wait lists. Two years for an urgent referral for a major condition that can be helped with medication. Having to tell a patient who has lived for eight years with a major hernia surgery that they are still nowhere near the top of the list. She became a doctor to treat people.
Yes management in some departments is crap, but that is life. (I still sometimes google a former manager who could not manage her way out of a paper bag and caused me and others real unhappiness, to look for evidence of karma which is weird, but we have to find ways of dealing with difficult situations.) It is made up for by working with some very wonderful people and coming across some great patients. And, as up thread, the humility that comes for meeting people whose lives are really difficult.
I actually don't know how much DD earns, though it is less pay than F1/F2s in England. It is still very likely to be higher than the average wage in the area and means that she can afford a mortgage, to run a car, take holidays (OK the last one involved camping), see the bands she wants, play sports and so on. The rotations (five out of six) where there has been overtime she has been able to save the extra pay. All for a job she enjoys.
Worrying about PAs smacks of the politics of envy, which is like a toxin seeping through our society. First off PAs face an uncertain future. My own GP has stopped using them and apparently it is common for senior doctors to refuse to have them in their departments. DD worked with one who was far more limited on the procedures they were able to carry out. Yes the PA earned more, had training time built into her contract (something English F1/F2s get but not others in the UK) and was not required to work nights or weekends. But I can bet that overall the PA would love to be in the position of an F2 with a medical degree and an obvious career path, and if I were them I would be worried that they form a quick cost saving measure given they are more expensive at a time when F2s can't find work.
I am angry that DDs hard working peers have been expected to work more hours for less pay, don't get training time and are then expected to go through the same national selection processes for specialist training as English F1s, or affluent overseas medics who have been able to pay for support in achieving CV ad ons etc. English GPs often have quieter rotations like GP or community, giving them regular hours and a chance to study. (Some do where DD is, but not all.) Then irritatingly the posts earmarked as specialist training posts remain unfilled because those selected want to stay in England. Whilst at the same time the entry level jobs they need in order to have time to try again have been opened to full international competition.
English resident doctors faff on about PAs, or their poor pay. Time to grow up. Fight for things that really matter. Things that affect patient care or the future of the NHS. Perhaps they could start talking about their peers (and other HCPs) who can't find jobs because of our mad immigration system that chooses to import staff when our own qualified and competent medics have no jobs. Perhaps they could start talking about things that affect patient care like the management of wait lists. A constructive approach would win public respect. In these grim times fighting for a larger share of the public funding cake with loose them public trust and support.