Will Labour pay Jnr doctors the ridculous 35% they are demanding?

[DistinguishedSocialCommentator]

This is unaffordable and that is a fact
So what promises are the Labour lot making, that is if they have the time to discuss this other than what 's happening to Dainae Abbott

If us the taxpayers could afford the 35%, then I'd be happy to sanction the rise but we can't afford that

FIVE days of strike - this will have another massive impact on those waiting for appointments and those having them cancelled. The doctors knew what the pay and conditions were when they decided to take the job and the strikes should be outlawed. The police can't strike, the armed forces can't strike, so why are doctors allowed to strike??

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-69072640

Nah the scroungers need to be put in the workhouse.

I don't think 35 percent is affordable in our current circumstances but 20 percent might be, as an absolute maximum. So much money had to be spent on COVID. It will take another 10 years to get back on track. All the time we are paying billions in interest alone to service our debt. We have to cut the borrowing and start to pay back debt so less money is wasted on interest.

Surely the 'junior' doctors (could be any doctor up to and including a senior registrar, who will already be on a very good salary indeed) have purposefully chosen to strike in the week BEFORE the general election so that the Tories will give them a big pay rise and the Tories can gain votes for having 'solved' the doctor's pay issue and got the NHS back on track.

The nurses were told they would not get more than 5% due to the inflationary pressures (even though benefits and pensions were increased by 11%).
Yet 5% of a nurses salary causes much less inflationary pressure than 5% (let alone 35%) of a senior registrar's salary.

AFAIK the 'junior' doctors have already turned down 12% - as have the consultants.

Tories seem to find money for things when it suits them.
£15 an hour is a disgrace.

I do wonder how many people shouting "we can't afford it" actually understand economics and really have a grasp on whether or not we can afford it, or are just making an assumption. This government has made us all feel that essential public services are too expensive.

Where are all these numbers you're throwing around coming from? 20 percent, 10 years - have you looked into this or are you just making wild stabs in the dark? Do you actually know this?

We already pay more on interest on the country's debt than we pay for education, so I think it's clear that we can't keep borrowing and paying such high amounts of interest.

The comparison of interest vs education expenditure is utterly pointless. It has no relevance at all. A Nation's finances are not like a household budget no matter how much that lovely Mrs Thatcher liked to pretend they are.
That kind of irrelevant and simplistic comparison belongs on the side of a bus as a way to trick the easily led.

So true - the Thatcherite sound bite about household budgets and the "nation's credit card" have really stuck with people, despite being totally incorrect.

Exactly, @frankentall . Classic Tory populist bullshit. Do you want an NHS? Do you want properly qualified people in it to care for your family? Those who don't are often those who pay privately, or who don't understand the issues.

They have already said they won't - yet. They say they will negotiate a settlement and provide other concessions to improve conditions.

I guess it depends on your viewpoint. I do not think that essential public services are too expensive, but I do think that the Conservative party have mismanaged the public purse to the extent that there is not enough money to pay for said services. Too expensive / can no longer afford it is really semantics if the money isn't there.

From my perspective there are two issues. Does the government gain sufficient revenue in taxes to pay for the level of service I would like, and do I trust them to administer it correctly if they do?

I do not believe that they generate enough revenue in taxes, however I also don't trust them to administer what they do have properly either.

Until we can trust them, and have an accurate view of the shortfall (if indeed there is a shortfall), it will be impossible to judge what the next step should be.

FYI the consultants settled in March, they recieved their backdated pay this month.

I hope so....

I’m married to a hospital doctor and this kind of thing infuriates me. What you’re saying is we can’t afford to pay doctors but we can afford a ridiculous national service scheme that nobody wants. We can afford to pay over the odds for faulty PPE to Tory donors during the pandemic.

But no we certainly can’t afford doctors. The magic money tree extends to lots else but not to them.

Thats ok for doctors though because other countries CAN afford them, so lots each year are jetting off to their new overseas lives with higher salaries, less working hours and better conditions. We don’t because we prioritise family, more fool us.

Meanwhile us Brits don’t get appointments, or the right treatment on time because of the beliefs of people like you who believe Tory donors are somehow more deserving of our national resources than the very people who fought to keep us alive during the Pandemic.

Anyone who believes this crap should not moan next time they get substandard treatment at a hospital, you voted for it.

I hope so. They could currently earn more working in Pret. As other posters have said the government conveniently find the money when it suits their agenda.

I am a cardiology nurse with almost 20yrs experience. I am on £16.58 an hour. Cleaners are asking for £18 an hour. It’s absolutely ridiculous. Never felt as low in my job as I have the last year. Looking for a way out

And don't forget to add Canada to that list

Doctors in the UK are very poorly paid compared with their North American and Australasian counterparts!

Precisely

It's pay erosion over the years which is the main driver of all this action

@DistinguishedSocialCommentator what do you for a job, son?

Does starting threads on Mumsnet about the Labour Party count as a job?

The hospital consultants have already done their striking and I believe accepted a pay rise of circa 13%

Well beyond the 6% pay rise claimed to be given to GPs/general practice, in reality practices gave <6% for many various reasons, including not actually being given the funding to pay for all the salary increases!

We do have the money. The government just doesn’t want to pay it.

Personally I’d quite like a well funded nhs where I could actually see a doctor when I needed one.

All those who don’t agree to the back of the queue?

They're not, they're worth a damn sight more.

By the sounds of you, you've never had the misfortune to have a serious asthma attack, heart attack or stroke.

You work in healthcare 😃