Doctors on strike will lose the public’s support

SIR – The British Medical Association (BMA) led junior doctors into their first strike last Tuesday, and there can be no going back. The Government will deal with them in the same manner as it does other industrial and occupational unions.

While many of us support the case for better terms for doctors, they will quickly lose public support if they engage in further strike action, as more people will suffer from the cancellation of necessary procedures.

BMA activists could be leading junior doctors down a one-way street.

Commander Alan York RN (retd)

Sheffield, South Yorkshire SIR – Is there a moral code of practice which precludes doctors seeking reasonable compensation for their work?

Surely an adequate salary and reasonable working hours are what any professional group would advocate.

Doctors, like other public servants, must not be expected to be saints.

Caroline Heywood

Brasov, Transylvania, Romania SIR – While one accepts that junior doctors work long hours and face many difficult situations, they enjoy career prospects which the average person would be delighted to have.

Employees in industry are permanently at risk of job loss through cost-cutting, mergers and acquisitions. Those in the medical profession face no such stresses or worries regarding their long-term future.

Indeed, they hold a qualification recognised and sought throughout the world. Peter Preston Ivybridge, Devon