Junior Doctors in the UK will strike on Tuesday

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Junior doctors in the UK will take strike action over new contracts that the department of health want to implement. The strike is one of three that are proposed to take place over the next month. Emergency cover will be provided but routine operations have been cancelled. A junior doctor straight out of uni earns roughly £23,000 a year as a starting salary which is quite low considering the responsibility they have on their shoulders. The government are being quite underhanded in the way they have tried to negotiate with the BMA (British Medical Association) the doctors union. The night before the strike was supposed to take place in December the government announced too late in the day an 11% increase in their salaries. It was too late to negotiate and accept it but the BMA agreed to cancel the strike for further negotiations. The strike is not about pay as such but rather the unfair system of working over night, reducing the amount of pay for working up to 10PM. The strike action is not about pay but the conditions under which they would be forced to work meaning far more hours and for less pay. The department of health has misreported wrong figures and false information which tells the public that the NHS is not a 7 day service to some extent that is true but to make it a truly 7 day service they would have to put their money where there mouth is and fund it properly which they are not prepared to do. This morning a letter has been published in the Independent Newspaper showing how the letter had been "doctored" (excuse the pun) to damage the doctors cause so that the general public will not support the doctors. It mentions if there was a major terrorist attack would the doctors go back to work immediately. Probably not. This is a complete lie. Of course the doctors like any emergency worker would respond to a catastrophic emergency. The health secretary has been underhanded and we know from experience how he tried to shut our hospital down illegally and creaming off all our expert staff to prop up a failing hospital that was in the red whereas my hospital is well run and very successful. This was overturned and the high court which over ruled him. So what did this nasty little man do? He rushed through a law that if he decided to close a hospital no one could challenge him. How disgraceful is that!! I do support the junior doctors action. OK we will have to step up to the mark to cover their absence by providing emergency care. The wards and departments will not be without medical cover but only urgent treatment will take place. So it looks like we will be very busy next Tuesday. I hope the government see how shameful they have behaved and come to a proper, decent and acceptable agreement. It is not just about money but more to do with excessive hours for which they are going to be underpaid.