please log in to view this image Here's the reason for the strike. Let's deal with Dai's issues: 1. They've had their hours cut and they're still complaining?! - Wrong. Most Junior Doctors already do a lot more hours than just a basic Monday to Friday due to doctor shortages in the NHS. While they have a "normal" working week of Monday to Friday (7am to 7pm), pretty much all Junior Doctors end up working a lot of anti-social hours for overtime/banded pay. What the government are doing is increasing the "normal" working hours so that it's 3 hours longer on weekdays, and adding in Saturday 7am-7pm as normal working hours (an addition of 25 hours in total) - this means that doctors now have less chance to earn 'overtime/banded pay' and so will be paid much less for working the same hours. 2. They've been given a pay rise and they're still striking?! Greedy feckers... - Also wrong. Their basic pay has been increased by 11%, but this is offset to a greater extent by the fact that they now have much less opportunity to earn their banded pay, so overall, Junior Doctors will actually see a substantial decrease in their salaries. 3. When they finish their training, they'll probably just feck off anyway! Well, as the infographic says, a Junior Doctor is anyone who is qualified as a doctor that isn't a consultant. So these are no students we're talking about. These are qualified doctors. They are training to become consultants in their respective fields of medicine - so by the time they "feck off", they'll have already likely given over a decade's worth of service to the NHS. If they feck off or go private once they become consultants, that's their choice - just as it's anyone's choice to move jobs if they want in any other field of work. Add in the point about "the removal of safeguards to prevent excess rostered hours" and it all makes sense. They are essentially being given an overall pay cut, having their "normal" working week extended by 25 hours, and having the provisions which aid them if they feel they're being overworked taken away. If I were a junior doctor, I'd be pretty pissed off too. To be honest, I don't really know the right way to solve it though. At the end of the day, it's all about the deficit for the Tories, and while I sympathise with them to an extent that they need to find ways to bring the deficit down, giving the honest NHS workers paycuts while they line their pockets through privatisation stinks of sh*t to me.
Great post BK. But remember, it was the Blair Government that brought in part-privatisation of the health service, with huge kick-backs being the norm. In fact, it's been reduced under the Tories. However, with the Government pushing an IN vote it's likely that privatisation will increase hugely once TTIP is agreed (and it will be) between the EU and the US. I'm not sure voters realise this. I see the dispute from both sides, and as with most disputes there is some right and wrong on both. I think the Government's intentions to establish a 7 day NHS, when it doesn't matter what day of the week you have a life-threatening illness are laudable - we won't have it in Wales - but the way they've gone about this is ridiculous. Railroading workers, whether they are binmen or doctors is just plain wrong. There are better ways to make the NHS more efficient and to reduce the deficit. As a country we're actually borrowing more than ever and Osborne has been a disaster on that front, with the national debt increasing at an eye watering rate.
Sack the lot of the greedy bastards , millions of us have had no choice working unsociable hours for many a year, why should they be any different, the government have bent over backwards cutting their hours and giving them a 11% pay rise so they have been well looked after.....the hours they wanted cut they still want the same pay as when they were doing them The 11% goes a long way to addressing that so they are quids in. What other profession would get that deal....They have been given a great deal and should stop being greedy and stop holding the people at ransom and i hope the government stick to their guns or better still terminate their employment and find someone else to train them. Most bugger off for higher pay anyway as soon as they reach a certain standard. They are well paid as it is and they know the state of the NHS but for some reason their pay for less hours is more important.....they are taking the piss...
Have you any evidence to support such absurd and slanderous claims? For a Labourite, you sure seem to soak up the Tory bullshit Dai. Try reading the papers and you will see that this strike has more than one death on its hands......they should be sacked the greedy idiots....
Prince was gifted artist to say the least, though a very shy and private person also, he needed medication to go on stage, due to his issues of stage fright, hard to believe but true, he was always religious even through his bad times, another great artist chewed up by the ruthless music business, but what a song writer he was also, wrote so many great songs for other artists, shame he died the way he did.............
The only ones responsible for the deaths are the scum Tory Government, but that won't bother them, they have been killing people since their inception......
He is a good comedian using the doctors as material for laughs...he dont mention that most of those juniors are using the NHS for their qualifications and as soon as they get them they will desert the NHS for better paid jobs privately......he never mentioned that and the wages he said there are false they earn more than that and not long ago they were begging for week end work...... The truth is they have been given a fantastic deal by the government with a 5 day week less hours and more pay....sorry they are greedy twats and should be grateful for their generous pay package while under training......It don't wash with many of us their moaning and hard done by attitude......Other people under training in most jobs can only dream of getting the deal they have got...