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Into the abyss - NHS Consultants have voted for strike action

(138 Posts)
Casdon Tue 27-Jun-23 16:38:45

Senior doctors in England have voted to strike in overwhelming numbers for the first time in the row over pay.

More than 24,000 consultants in England voted in the British Medical Association’s ballot (a turnout of 71%), with 20,741 (86%) voting for industrial action. The ballot closed earlier on Tuesday.

It means that hospital consultants are set to go on strike for two days from 20 July.

The BMA’s consultants committee urged members to vote in favour of strike action after talks with ministers about restituting pay levels, which have declined in real terms by 35% since 2008-09, broke down.

Courtesy of the Guardian
The government really must sort this out urgently, it’s a different level of serious.

karmalady Thu 29-Jun-23 16:51:42

our taxes paid for their consultant training. They owe us

Casdon Thu 29-Jun-23 16:58:38

ronib

Casdon I was assuming employer’s contributions taking it to £200k

That’s the first time you’ve mentioned that. Employers contribution is just under 15%, so would add £18,000 to the new proposed salary. But it’s not £200k for for 25 hours work, it’s £192k for 37.5 hours (equivalent in sessions) work, which is less than two thirds of what you quoted, where did you get 25 hours from?

Casdon Thu 29-Jun-23 16:59:55

karmalady

our taxes paid for their consultant training. They owe us

And they have more than paid it back by the time they reach consultant status, because it takes an average of 15 years.

foxie48 Thu 29-Jun-23 17:12:44

Casdon

karmalady

our taxes paid for their consultant training. They owe us

And they have more than paid it back by the time they reach consultant status, because it takes an average of 15 years.

Whilst they are training, they are also training the doctors who are junior to them, this is in addition to doing the actual specialist work. They could argue that we owe them but fortunately, they don't!

ronib Thu 29-Jun-23 17:25:24

Casdon the Bma is promoting part time working for consultants. Don’t forget 7 weeks holiday pay plus pension benefits. You are getting bogged down in details - however and I was rather hoping that MaizieD could provide an overview of how it was all going to work out.

Oreo Thu 29-Jun-23 17:31:49

ronib

Casdon the Bma is promoting part time working for consultants. Don’t forget 7 weeks holiday pay plus pension benefits. You are getting bogged down in details - however and I was rather hoping that MaizieD could provide an overview of how it was all going to work out.

How? Does she have a crystal ball?

Oreo Thu 29-Jun-23 17:33:30

The BMA says the senior doctors can do private work on their 2 strike days in July.
Soooooo, that’s alright then angry

Germanshepherdsmum Thu 29-Jun-23 17:39:25

I wanted to know from Maizie, who knows far more than me about these things, if paying consultants £200k and giving in to the junior doctors, could be achieved without raising taxes in due course , remembering her mantra that taxation doesn’t fund spending (though my belief is that the spending wouldn’t occur if the taxation wasn’t coming along).

Casdon Thu 29-Jun-23 17:39:37

ronib

Casdon the Bma is promoting part time working for consultants. Don’t forget 7 weeks holiday pay plus pension benefits. You are getting bogged down in details - however and I was rather hoping that MaizieD could provide an overview of how it was all going to work out.

You do make me smile ronib. It doesn’t make any difference if a consultant works less hours than full time because he or she won’t be paid for it! All contracts have annual leave, pension benefits etc. built in, what’s your point there - do you want consultants to work 365 days a year or what?
It’s not me getting bogged down in details here, it’s you - you keep twisting what you’re asking for if you don’t get the information you think you need.

ronib Thu 29-Jun-23 17:50:22

Casdon I would like to understand the funding model and so far don’t have a hope - I am not the only one not being completely transparent! Seems pie in the sky territory.

foxie48 Sat 01-Jul-23 13:38:25

Germanshepherdsmum

Are you suggesting that the taxpayer should be paying doctors the same as bankers and City lawyers, whose remuneration is decided by market forces?

Been thinking about this one, are we talking about the bankers who manipulated libor illegally to make more money for the banks, the ones who got their banks heavily involved in subprime mortgages (which they actually didn't understand) and nearly brought our banking system down, perhaps the ones involved in hedge funds that make money when our businesses collapse or the pound falls, or could you be talking about the ones who fund private equity, so that they can asset strip (Debts in Thames Water had gone from £3.2bn to £10.5bn by the time Macquarie had sold its stake, whilst paying out £2.8bn in dividends to shareholders during their time in control.) Actually it's we, the tax payers who have paid heavily for all these people with their sticky fingers in dubious pies and we are still paying with effects it has had on our public services. I'm sorry if this sounds rude, it is not what is intended but the idea that people get paid what they are worth according to market forces is a complete myth. How can you put a value on improving the value of someone's life by giving them a hip replacement, or putting someone back together after a road accident, or caring for an old person with dementia? We can work out how much a medical procedure costs but we can never know how much the value is to the patient.

Germanshepherdsmum Sat 01-Jul-23 13:47:56

Employers decide what they pay an employee, whichever sector they are in. In the private sector that’s market forces, which is no myth. It’s the value of the employee to the employer’s business which decides their remuneration. What anyone else thinks about how much the employee is paid is irrelevant.