Junior Doctors row: 98% vote to strike

[kidneystone]

We need more reporters like

to get the true facts across.

[Dubaidani13]

So now the Junior Doctors are upping the stakes for the public, by striking on emergency cover also now? disgusting! you are going against everything your profession is there for! 7 days operation of All depts is how it should be and that means All depts. most people work 7 days on a rota basis so why not you?

[Berberis]

I don't understand how they claim their new contract puts peoples lives at risk and their solution is to put peoples lives at risk.

[Cyclone]

the behaviour of Jeremy rhymes with Hunt is disgusting. He's the one who's created this situation, he's entirely responsible, and I for one entirely support the junior doctors.

 

Your post is light on facts, but what you do have there indicates a lack of understanding of the issue.

 

Oh, and this thread is a duplicate of several existing ones about the situation.

[Scozzie]

It is the JUNIOR doctors that are striking.

Other doctors, specialists, health care professionals are all still working.

No one's lives are in danger.

A And E is still up and running, emergency procedures are still being performed.

 

Maybe.... MAYBE, some people who have elective surgery may be rescheduled.

 

There is no need for hysterics.

[Cyclone]

It is the JUNIOR doctors that are striking.

Other doctors, specialists, health care professionals are all still working.

No one's lives are in danger.

A And E is still up and running, emergency procedures are still being performed.

 

Maybe.... MAYBE, some people who have elective surgery may be rescheduled.

 

There is no need for hysterics.

 

In fact this exact situation happens once a year, for 2 days, when all the junior doctors change contracts and are inducted into their new jobs.

But, meh, facts.

 

One of my friends just posted this on facebook.

 

I stayed back 4 hours extra after work to (put simply) help cut out someone's dead bowel so they didn't die. As part of it, I had to physically flush out a rectum full of sloppy poo repeatedly with a 50-ml syringe and a big bowl of water, with some of it going over my legs, possibly in my hair and definitely in my shoe (all in the presence of a rather attractive Anaesthetic Registrar).

Being a Junior Surgeon really isn't glamorous - it isn't like Holby City - and we work long hours with consistently sub-optimal staffing levels. We more-often-than-not, don't even get a "Thank You" from patients for what we do. I won't get paid for the 4 hours I did, or the other ones I have done on hundreds of occasions in the past, but I and the vast majority of my colleagues don't care. My Registrar won't get this evening saying "Goodnight" to his kids back, either.

Some people will think I am mental, but I left work this evening feeling really happy, despite possibly smelling of poo and having not had a wee or any food for about 12 hours: I realised I absolutely love what I do, and I am proud that I have the skills and the opportunity to do this every day.

What saddens me is that I know that this positive way of looking at my life is not how I see things when I am exhausted and cannot think straight. My other half, family and friends will tell you I turn into a vile, emotional wreck when I am tired and frustrated - particularly after having changed - what is the equivalent of - 12-hour time zones twice in a space of 3 weeks and / or at the end of a 100-hour week.

Jeremy Hunt and the Conservative Government are insistent on making our working hours even worse by spreading the current workforce thinner and thinner and removing safeguards that will prevent us from working an obscene number of hours that put both our and our patient's health at risk. They will continue to push well-trained and dedicated staff abroad, especially now they have openly admitted they are going to increase the pay gap between men and women and that women and single parents will be disadvantaged by the new contracts.

Unlike them, we all took an oath that we would put our patients first, and act in their best interests. We are not willing to further compromise on our own happiness and relationships for a healthcare system stepping closer and closer to privatisation.

This is why we are striking this week. We want to fight for the NHS that everyone in this country takes for granted. We will only realise just how great it really is when this Government has succeeded in destroying it. We know we have our Consultants' support; they have made arrangements to ensure continued safe care for current inpatients, as well as the continuous flow of new patients referred from A&E, GP or via ambulance. I hope you will support us too.

I don't want to have to leave this country to find a more sustainable lifestyle abroad, but I don't want to work for, let alone be treated by an NHS that this Government are about to create.

[Berberis]

It is the JUNIOR doctors that are striking.

Other doctors, specialists, health care professionals are all still working.

No one's lives are in danger.

A And E is still up and running, emergency procedures are still being performed.

 

Maybe.... MAYBE, some people who have elective surgery may be rescheduled.

 

There is no need for hysterics.

 

The BMA wouldn't deny that lives would be at risk when asked by the BBC many times over the last few months.

[Zamo]

the behaviour of Jeremy rhymes with Hunt is disgusting. He's the one who's created this situation, he's entirely responsible, and I for one entirely support the junior doctors.

 

Your post is light on facts, but what you do have there indicates a lack of understanding of the issue.

 

Oh, and this thread is a duplicate of several existing ones about the situation.

 

This will probably have Cyclone rethinking but I tend to agree with him.

 

It isn't just Hunt or the Tory government though. Successive Labour, Coalition and Tory governments have all taken their toll on public services like the NHS. They are all politicians at the end of the day and they are all hooked on the whole command and control method of management... and it is disastrous.

 

7 day working is in principle fine just as the principle of Universal Credit is fine. The problem is always the execution. Government do not listen to the experts and any dissenting voice is simply dismissed as being frightened of change. Unfortunately, not all change is good and not all good ideas are implemented in a way that will deliver good outcomes. Key to good outcomes is for the people who will operate a new model to support it and feel a sense of ownership for it. When you have that you get people working hard to make it work instead of sitting back, waiting for it to fail and saying 'told you so'.

 

This 'reform' has been handle appallingly. The government needs to stop playing hardball, start listen and start learning.

[Berberis]

For the record, I support the doctors in their wish to change the contract/be paid more, but I do not support them putting peoples lives at risk.

[sutty27]

So now the Junior Doctors are upping the stakes for the public, by striking on emergency cover also now? disgusting! you are going against everything your profession is there for! 7 days operation of All depts is how it should be and that means All depts. most people work 7 days on a rota basis so why not you?

 

Its perfectly acceptable to risk the lives of their patients in order to make them safer.

 

---------- Post added 26-04-2016 at 08:43 ----------

 

I don't understand how they claim their new contract puts peoples lives at risk and their solution is to put peoples lives at risk.

 

It is a bizarre way to make people safer.