Patients pay when doctors go on strike
THE strike by junior doctors has had a profound impact on patients.
This is a clear example of why the proposed Bill requiring minimum service levels during strikes of essential public workers is needed. As it would bring Britain into line with the EU, it can’t be argued that it contravenes human rights.
The Government must also amend the terms of reference for the pay review bodies. They are not independent if the Chancellor sets the pay ceiling. The honest approach is to remove this restriction and let them make a recommendation that is not binding. The Government should have the prerogative to make a decision based on the economy. That is where the buck should stop.
R. HARRIS, Eltham, South London. I’M ASHAMED of the BMA. To call a strike of junior doctors shows an attitude that should not be part of the medical profession.
M. SIMS, Warrington, Cheshire. IF JUNIOR doctors’ pay has fallen in real terms by 26 per cent since 20082009, they should blame the BMA for failing to represent them adequately throughout that time. No government could make up that lost ground, never mind 35 per cent, in one take.
J. FISHER, address supplied. DOCTORS worked brilliantly through the pandemic, for which we will be forever grateful. But the three-day strike will have caused suffering and possibly deaths. What happened to the oath: First do no harm?
ROGER FOWNES, Bromsgrove, Worcs. IT’S appalling that junior doctors were forced to go on strike because the Government refused to talk to them. This had a huge impact on patients, whose operations and treatments were cancelled. It’s time the Government took the health crisis seriously. Doctors and nurses are emigrating and the NHS is wasting billions, yet it seems that nothing is being done to improve matters. VALERIE GIBSON, address supplied.
JUNIOR doctors earn £30,000 for a 60-hour week, so more than 45 of them could be employed for the equivalent of a certain TV football presenter’s salary of £1.35 million.
NICK WOOTTON, Wallasey, Wirral.
HOW come some train drivers earn up to £70,000, while junior doctors are paid just £30,000?
JANE SLATER, Lincoln.
IF THE NHS repaid university fees for newly qualified doctors and nurses, this would effectively mean a pay rise and help with staff retention.
GILLIAN PINNOCK, Glemsford, Suffolk.