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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the junior / resident doctors are greedy, selfish, entitled & lazy?

657 replies

SpottyAlpaca · 07/04/2026 19:32

So the resident doctors are out on strike. Yet again. Patients are being inconvenienced & treatments delayed. Yet again.

They have received a pay rise of 28.9% over that last 3 years, which is by far the highest increase of any group in the public sector. Very few people in the private sector, who ultimately pay the doctors’ salaries, have received anything like as much. Very few of their patients will ever earn as much as a resident doctor. Yet still it’s not enough and they are demanding even more.

Doctors do an important job and deserve to be paid properly for it. But the BMA’s current approach is completely unreasonable and deluded. They talk about “pay restoration’ to 2008 levels but that’s completely unrealistic. The country is poorer now & simply can’t afford it. AIBU to think they should get back to work?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
14
Queenonfleek · 07/04/2026 19:33

No I don’t .. HTH

Blimms · 07/04/2026 19:35

Queenonfleek · 07/04/2026 19:33

No I don’t .. HTH

It always makes me laugh when people write HTH, as if they think they’re doing some kind of mic drop.

DunnockMam · 07/04/2026 19:39

There is no denying they work incredibly hard, long shifts and stressful hours and study for a long time under a lot of pressure.

But here’s the hot take: they are studying and working their way up for a long time because medicine is complicated, human beings are unique and no amount of study compares to the experience of working in the field. There are way too many residents who think they know everything and misdiagnose, miss things, dismiss patients and have no bedside manner. I see it every single day. They HAVE worked hard. But it doesn’t mean they know everything in their first few years of working and the slow progression is reflective of that.

Redrosesposies · 07/04/2026 19:39

What does HTH mean?

Yes they should get back to work. Many newly qualified doctors can't get a job so if you've got one you should get on with it and if you're in A&E do it a bit quicker.

wheresthespuds · 07/04/2026 19:40

I suppprt them

Auroraloves · 07/04/2026 19:42

Ive worked alongside junior doctors and they are definitely not lazy or selfish, they barely get time to sit and have a drink.

they work hard. The bottom of the pay band is very low considering how much training and expertise they have.

SunMoonandChocolate · 07/04/2026 19:44

At the end of the day if the money isn't there, they can't have it, and personally I think they were stupid to turn down the latest deal, as it sounds like cutting off their nose to spite their face.

However, in saying that, I'm not in their shoes, but just know there are a LOT of people out there who would love to earn the money and have the opportunities of progression that they have.

LasVegass · 07/04/2026 19:45

I support them.

Badbadbunny · 07/04/2026 19:45

They're not lazy, but they're certainly utterly tone deaf when considering all the other people who've not had anything like the pay rise they got last year who are the poor sods who'd be taxed more to pay for yet another huge rise if they got it.

neverbeenskiing · 07/04/2026 19:46

Very few people in the private sector, who ultimately pay the doctors’ salaries, have received anything like as much

You do understand that public sector workers, including doctors, also pay tax?

rememberingthem · 07/04/2026 19:46

They are greedy, i literally don’t know anyone who supports them. They have had a better pay deal than many fellow staff who work just as hard. Yes the wages starting are low but they won’t be like that forever!

Newbutoldfather · 07/04/2026 19:48

I was torn on this one as I think now is a terrible time to strike and I also think doctors striking is a terrible look.

OTOH, it is a really tough and really important job and losing pay in real terms since 2008 is crazy. It is not as if we have a massive excess of doctors willing to do the job for the current salary.

We need to have a proper mechanism to pay doctors fairly without them needing to strike.

Bikenutz · 07/04/2026 19:48

I support them. I feel as though a lot of other essential workers should be better valued too.

Dunnocantthinkofone · 07/04/2026 19:49

I think they’ve pushed it too far this time and list the support they previously enjoyed tbh

Literally no one in ANY sector earns in line with 2008 inflation adjusted wages. Not saying that’s right but well……we are where we are
So that seems a bloody stupid line to draw in the sand

GoldenCupsatHarvestTime · 07/04/2026 19:49

rememberingthem · 07/04/2026 19:46

They are greedy, i literally don’t know anyone who supports them. They have had a better pay deal than many fellow staff who work just as hard. Yes the wages starting are low but they won’t be like that forever!

Other staff work just as hard. But the buck stops with the doctor when something goes wrong. They’re the one that gets blamed.

ValueofNothing · 07/04/2026 19:50

Wow, don't hold back, Spot.

Jrisix · 07/04/2026 19:50

They accrue a ton of debt and study for years to qualify.

The NHS abuses its position as a monopoly employer to underpay them.

Good ones move abroad where their expertise and years of study are recognised and rewarded.

They should be paid more than they are.

mutleyschuckles · 07/04/2026 19:52

Would you want to do that job for £18 an hour though? I wouldn’t. Is that enough for what they are asked to do, it’s a lot of responsibility if/when something goes wrong. I’m a band 3 HCA on about £13 an hour. The difference in skills, knowledge & patient expectation needs to be valued at a lot more than £5 an hour extra. I’d want the person treating my family to be earning enough to care. I’m not sure what the long term answer is but I will continue supporting them because there’s no way I’d want all that responsibility for that little.

Monetswaterlilies · 07/04/2026 19:52

I think they have very genuine concerns about working conditions and training prospects. I don't think they're realistic about salaries. Nobody gets paid the equivalent of what they got in 2008; cost of living is higher for everyone and quality of life is lower. So I don't think it's a reasonable request given the increase they've already had.

It's general practice that I think needs the money and support far more.

BatchCookBabe · 07/04/2026 19:52

Not selfish, or lazy, but a bit entitled, and quite greedy. Their pay rise demands are ludicrous and farcical. I don't know why they think they should get such a massive rise and I think they're taking the piss a bit.

mumofoneAloneandwell · 07/04/2026 19:53
Season 6 Ugh GIF by Parks and Recreation

My sympathy has waned

Same for tube strikers, should they try and strike again

Read the room, we're all struggling 🙄🙄

Cosyblankets · 07/04/2026 19:53

God I hate this we pay their salaries rubbish!
We all pay tax
Doctors included

GenerousGardener · 07/04/2026 19:54

I support them.

socks1107 · 07/04/2026 19:56

They certainly aren’t lazy. I work alongside doctors and they’ve had to study for years and work long hours that’s not lazy.
but they are tone deaf and possibly a bit deluded. The country cannot afford it, the other hospital staff have no where near the amount of pay rise the resident doctors have had and many other public sector jobs. Greedy yes, led on by their unions yes

pizzaHeart · 07/04/2026 19:56

I don’t think they are lazy but I do think that they are wrong.
I wasn’t supporting their last strike let alone this one.