Junior doctors: exploited or privileged?

I was dismayed to read Mary Dejevsky’s comment piece (9 October) about junior doctors and the proposed new contract of employment put forward by the Government. Her portrayal of these doctors was so negative, in contrast to the principled, dedicated and exhausted doctors that I meet. Her suggestion that the real motive behind their protests was just money was offensive.

As the mother of a 29year-old junior doctor, I would love to talk to Mary about what my daughter’s working life is really like and explain how and why my positive, resilient, committed daughter has so often crumpled in tearful desperation at the end of 13 days and nights on duty saving people’s lives. To read her and her colleagues described as having “a hugely inflated sense of entitlement masquerading as concern for patients” leaves me crumpled in tearful desperation too.

The concerns of these “junior” doctors are much, much more than a reduction in their income, and they really do fear a collapse of the NHS if this contract were to be put in place. There are not enough doctors to run the health service now. They do already work a 24-hour, seven-day week. A 24/7 “full service” needs to be properly funded, staffed and resourced and there have been no clear plans from the Government about how to achieve that.

My daughter is seriously considering leaving the profession if this contract in its current form is imposed. Although I would hate her to give up the work she loves and is so good at, I also know that she deserves to enjoy her life and feel properly valued.

There is little chance of doctors’ hard work, skill and importance being recognised when they are described in such a derogatory way. Sally Sellers London SW11

I have watched the junior doctor debate with growing frustration and anger. A junior doctor posts a picture of their holiday in Venice following a declaration of their moral crusade for the NHS and claims that the British people will be harmed by their pay cut.

I spent seven years within the hallowed walls of the medical profession, hating the privilege and sense of entitlement. To see it dominate the headlines, overtaking the rocketing rates of child poverty in the UK or the exponentially increasing number of food banks, is sickening.

Medical school is as much a ticket to success as the Bullingdon Club. It is more difficult to get into medical school if you don’t know the right people. When my husband wanted work experience his mum rang up a close friend. When I wanted work experience I had to write two application forms and attend two competitive interviews. But once you are in it is very hard to mess up. The job is basically for life, advancement is virtually guaranteed (one of the reasons everyone gets so upset about overtime, which in any other job would be a prerequisite for career advancement), and pay rises correlate to number of years worked rather than level of responsibility.

The sad truth is that the medical profession has a lot more in common with the Conservative Party than it would like to believe. It seems they are both willing to fight tooth and nail to preserve their privileges. Dr Emily Wilson Purley-on-Thames, Berkshire