Sunak intervening to prevent end to doctors strikes

Maddyone are you taking a calcium supplement? Steroids can cause osteoporosis I think.
If it’s any consolation, so many of us are finding it difficult to get timely treatment and diagnosis. There’s a lot of waiting around that is true. Hopefully you will get the help you need. Better days ahead…

In the long run it would have been cheaper and more effective to negotiate a deal with the junior doctors. This has been a govt tactic to put the blame of increased waiting lists on the strikes. IMO this is a common tactic for this Conservative govt, rather than find a solution, find a scapegoat. I also think we are witnessing privatisation by stealth and those of us who can afford to raid our savings to "go private" will do that rather than join the ever growing waiting lists, leading to a two tier health service.

A country where we let ourselves be conned into "rewarding" NHS staff for their exhaustive efforts to save lives during Covid by standing on doorsteps and patriotically bashing saucepans like bloody village half-wits! And, after, the government doled out a grudging 1% pay increase........beggars belief.

foxie48 - the enormous problems with tooth decay in children and in getting an NHS dentist we’re all predicted by moaning lefties.
Those same moaning lefties are now complaining that the Tory governments are deliberately running down the NHS and letting the doctors strike continue as part of its cunning plan to destroy the health service. If action isn’t taken our health service will be like dentistry.
My dentist left the NHS and I moved on to a monthly plan. It’s not overly expensive as my teeth have been well cared for. I couldn’t get private health care or I couldn’t afford it as a woman in my mid seventies with several health conditions

MadeInYorkshire

So he can use it as an excuse to try and gain votes, but surely after all this time people can see what our lying thieving Prime Miniature is up to?

Lying and thieving? Perhaps you’d like to elaborate on that.

I'm currently at the hairdresser's. Hairdresser's Mum has just had private surgery for a spinal condition. All the family chipped in because the wait was 2 years and the mum's quality of life was severely compromised and at 78 they wanted her to be as well as possible for the recovery. Ordinary people raiding their savings because the NHS has been allowed to crumble.

Ronib I’ve been thinking about getting some calcium supplements as my daughter, who’s a doctor, talked about it to me. I also take high dose vitamin D and vitamin K supplements (k works with d) every day at home. I didn’t bring them with me as I thought I’d get plenty of sun here, but I think I probably need to take them everywhere with me in future.

maddyone definitely hope you can ask gp to prescribe calcium tablets if on steroids. I have also failed my health MOT this year ….. getting tedious to say the least.

Sorry to hear that ronib, I think I can just buy some calcium supplements can’t I? I might have a word with the specialist when I see him/her next week.

maddyone. Husband prescribed with Adcal 1500 mg chewable tablets but why not ask your gp? There might be different strengths etc.

maddyone

Sorry to hear that ronib, I think I can just buy some calcium supplements can’t I? I might have a word with the specialist when I see him/her next week.

I take Osteocare tablets, maddyone in the hope they'll help.
(When I remember)

I’ve had a quick look at the tablets available and there are a great many to choose from and not expensive.
It is worrying because I’ve been aware for a long time that calcium tablets are good for osteoporosis but bad for heart disease, so it’s a dilemma. That’s why I’ve taken vitamin D and K for a while now but not taken calcium supplements. It’s important to take vitamin K if you’re taking vitamin D or calcium supplements because it helps to prevent calcification in the arteries. I don’t want to treat one condition but cause another. It’s a dilemma.

I don’t eat much meat but do eat a lot of cheese, yoghurt, and milk, which all provide calcium of course.

maddyone thanks for details on vit K. I suppose we have strayed from the original post but personally more useful than even thinking about the PM!!

I don’t think you can take VitK if you’re on blood thinners.

I think you’re right about that Maybee. I’m not on blood thinners but it maybe pertinent to others.

Did anyone see the footnote at the end of the story

This article was amended on 8 February 2024 to include reference to a DHSC source saying the prime minister had not personally blocked a deal. This was received after publication.

So not quite what the headline says yet everyone wants to bash Rishsi

Having worked in general practice for over 30 years, I agree that some junior doctors are not junior but I would like to add that those who are not junior also do not earn the £14 per hour that is emblazoned on the strikers placards. Senior registrars in general practicec earn well over 100k per annum and having worked with doctors all my life I can honestly say that I've never met a poor one! Just saying.

Latest Government statement on the next round of doctors strikes.

One of my best friends has just been diagnosed with a heart condition. She quickly had an emergency doctor's appointment, due to the post code they live in. She is to have an emergency scan which she has been told could take 20 weeks to materialise. It's scandalous. I hope she doesn't die during those 20 weeks.

Iam64

*what the tories have done is an absolute scandal*

The devastation of our NHS including mental health, drug/alcohol services along with the 20,000 experienced police officers they made redundant, the swathes of experienced social care managers/workers, the disdain with which ministers speak of teachers in state schools and much much more - we live in a broken country led by an arrogant group of people with inflated views of their own importance.

Very well said. Totally agree

Let’s just pause and ask who are the arrogant group of people with inflated views of their own importance?
Or rather how many groups of such people are there?

I think there are 349 of them at the moment ronib.

And the rest Casdon

GrannyGravy13

Latest Government statement on the next round of doctors strikes.

Doctors in training
As a doctor in training you’ll earn a basic salary, plus pay for any hours over 40 per week, a 37 per cent enhancement for working nights, a weekend allowance for any work at the weekend, an availability allowance if you are required to be available on-call, and other potential pay premia.

In Foundation training, you will earn a basic salary of £32,398 to £37,303 (from 1 April 2023).

If you’re a doctor starting your specialist training in 2023 your basic salary will be £43,923 to £63,152.

Specialty doctors and specialist payscale
If you’re working as a specialty doctor you’ll earn a basic salary of £52,530 to £82,400. If you are a specialist grade doctor you'll earn a basic salary of £83,945 to £92,275.

As a consultant from 1 April 2023, you'll earn a basic salary of £93,666 to £126,281 per year, depending on the length of your service. You may apply for local Clinical Excellence Awards and national Clinical Impact Awards (previously known as Clinical Excellence Awards). This is a competitive process which takes into account work that you do over and above delivering your basic job requirements. In addition, if you take on extra responsibilities, for example in management or education, you may expect to be paid more.

Consultants can also supplement their salary by working in private practice if they wish. The opportunities available will depend on their specialty areas and the time they wish to spend on this outside of their NHS contracted hours.

I don't have time to work out what the % pay rises requested would be.

Hospital doctors usually become Consultants by age 40.

ronib

And the rest Casdon

The rest of them aren’t the government though ronib, they have no power to change anything.