Doctor's strike - what do they actually get paid?

[MageQueen]

I see doctors are striking again. They want a 29% increase, after 5.5% the last two years and the approx 20% they got after the last strike.

I'm a bit confused. What do they actually earn?

Broadly, I'm in favour of NHS doctors being paid a good wage but I think they lost me when they say that salaries need to be equivalent to 2008. I mean, I don't disagree, but they're not the only ones whose pay is significantly lower in real terms and with all due respect, unlike most of us, they've at least had SOME improvements? I wouldn't want to be a nurse, a retail worker, a childminder etc at this point becuase as far as I can tell, pay has barely moved in 10 years even as cost of living has spiralled.

But then, I don't know what they earn so for all I know, they're on very low wages considering the responsibility we put on them.

Well the F2F bit doesn’t really compare with a GP
as they do 8 min task focused assesssment

you do 50 -60 mins of a psychological intervention that requires a therapeutic relationship, modelling of exposure techniques etc etc
so although it IS good to see a GP F2F it doesn’t compare well to your role and the push for F2F

And what about tasks such as monitoring blood pressure etc esp for those on long term medications? 8 minute appointments took place f2f prior to COVID19.

agree re points other points however.

Anyway, I’ll stop talking about my profession now. I just don’t think now is the time to be demanding more in pay.

Private company, commissioned by NHS but staff not under NhS t+c’s
poorer sick pay, holidays.
higher caseloads
I hear u !!
but don’t begrudge the medics a pay rise !
work on your own career pathway ..

More sick hilarity from the narcissistic wing of the BMA, who gave us the term "resident" for non-resident "expert clinicians", formerly known as juniors, when they extracted their pay rise last year.

Attendance allowance, jobseeker’s allowance, personal independence payments, universal credit, housing benefit, income support, statutory maternity and paternity pay, statutory sick pay and public sector pensions are linked to CPI. Junior doctor's salaries are down 4.7% compared with 2008/9 based on CPI. Does the BMA use this index as a basis for their claims? Not a chance, because the RPI gives them a figure of -17.9% to play with.

Furthermore, in 2008/9 the EWTD was not fully implemented and junior doctors were working longer hours - an average of 56 hrs per week vs 48 hrs subsequently, and since then, productivity per capita has fallen off a cliff.

The single positive thing to take from the posturing of these fools is that two thirds of junior doctors do not support the strike.

Everyone deserves more money, but where does it end...... The doctors union in particular are using very clever devices to ensure they look hard done by.

They are using RPI rather than CPI, they don't include overtime or unsociable hours payments, they don't include their incredibly expensive, and unsustainable pension provision.

The biggest issue with all these public service pay enhancements, is that not one of them has provided any improvement in productivity at all.

Furthermore, in 2008/9 the EWTD was not fully implemented and junior doctors were working longer hours - an average of 56 hrs per week vs 48 hrs subsequently, and since then, productivity per capita has fallen off a cliff

Of course, I forgot about that...... no wonder they take extra shifts and work bank in private hospitals!!

@FixTheBonethe BMA has plenty of propaganda re doctors can’t afford to live. Just wanted to point out that’s not universal.

The public won’t forgive harm done. It’s incredibly hard for hospitals to cover resident strikes. Don’t believe the BMA when they say seniors will cover. There are less seniors than there are resident slots. Some don’t have the same skill set eg comparatively few consultant medics keep their ALS up to date. And they are all planning family holidays when schools break up. So, this strike will likely do harm.

When is the strike?

Thanks for recognising.

Personally think they will seriously start to lose public support. As others have said, they are far from being the only people whose pay is well below what it would be if it had kept pace with inflation during the years of austerity but they do seem to think they are more entitled than others. Hope Streeting and the government hold their nerve on this one

How many MPs compared with doctors in this country though?

Try not to conflate two separate issues. MPs salary is inflated, I agree. However, there is less of them.

Many, many, many doctors. An increase in pay for such a population of the workforce has got to come from somewhere.

Right, so they can strike or demand pay rises too? And HCPs don’t have upwards of 100k debt.

Debt is relative to earning potential. Doctors salaries are high - and have the potential to be high. Other HCPs can face significant debt too, but may not be able to earn as much.

look at what your MP is being paid and then look at a junior doctors salary. These doctors are saving lives every day and what are most the MPs doing compared to that ? They absolutely deserve to have a decent salary!

Why compare to MPs? Paramedics save lives but don't get paid well. Doctors still get a decent salary...

Doctirs salaries aren’t high, they have decreased in real terms.

Thats not really the point though. You might say various health care professionals aren’t paid well either. I might agree with you. The fact remains that all employee groups can take action.

Decent salary? At what stage do you think their salary becomes decent? Because they have huge responsibility from the start.

It isn't great at junior level but rises quickly & is then decent. The private schools I work in have always had plenty of doctor parents...

Surely this is true for everyone? I struggle to see how any one sector is a special case. Everyone deserves a decent wage for their days work, irrespective of whether you are a doctor, MH worker, bin man, admin assistant or street cleaner.
However, I doubt any of the other careers I mentioned will have the very generous NHS pension that a doctor can look forward to.

"isn't great" is doing some heavy lifting there. Do you not know the rates?

As a country, we simply cannot afford to increase every public sector workers pay!

Social workers
Physiotherapists
Mental health nurses
Psychiatrists
Occupational Therapists
Surgeons
Paediatricians
Speech & Language Therapists
Healthcare Assistants
Paramedics
Radiologists
I could go on and on…

Doctors have already received a pay increase and they’re now affecting thousands of people’s care, and compromising people’s life saving treatments for more money….

This….

EWTD compliant rotas were largely in place by 2008/9.

Why don’t the government just end their student loans so they are not paying that back each month. 7 years of university is a lot to pay back for the sake of saving lives and working in terrible circumstances. You could easily lift their take home pay by scrapping their university fees.

Psychiatrists, surgeons, paediatricians and radiologists are all doctors...