We can still call off this week’s strike – if the health secretary meaningfully addresses job shortages, real-terms pay cuts and the ongoing exodus
Dr Jack Fletcher is chair of the British Medical Association’s UK resident doctors committee
Resident doctors in England have voted overwhelmingly to go ahead with this week’s planned strike, because the government’s latest offer fails to address the medical jobs crisis and does nothing to stem the exodus of medics from this country.
Despite the government spin, this offer will not lead to more doctors in our NHS. It makes a start, but the proposed increase of specialty training posts over the next three years, from the 1,000 extra announced in the 10-year health plan to 4,000, simply repurposes “locally employed doctors”, rather than increasing capacity. It will not mean more doctors on the shop floor of our A&E departments – it’s just shuffling the deck chairs on a sinking ship.
Dr Jack Fletcher is an acute medicine doctor working in the north-east of England and chair of the British Medical Association’s UK resident doctors committee
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