NHS

And here's a link to a volunteer-run website (with Twitter account, too) for members of the public wishing to show support for the NHS and create a stronger voice for their views:

www.nhsmillion.co.uk

Not sure how much it will achieve but worth a try.

LOVELY

What are you FY/ST/CT?

I hear your demoralisation

But at least you have the theatre to escape to!

I am not sure what to suggest or what your long term career plans are

But I am truly grateful I am not a junior doctor anymore

I really think I was the literally the last of the "heyday"

We had free accomodation as House Officers
Excellent study budget
Band 2A for all our jobs
Bacon rolls at the weekend from the ward sister

The relative pay that juniors get now is 40% lower than I was paid in 2006
There is just no excuse

And this is why things like £200 tickets for Hamilton piss me off
And people wonder why NHS staff choose to locum
It's to avoid being on the breadline
And to keep their heads above inflation

A little bit of bitterness and empathy for others

Try to keep your chin up and not to let the system get you down

If you want some automomy over your work life
I would highly recommend GP

As it gives you so much flexibility over working patterns
And I would recommend doing some locums which really give you confidence and experience

Andrew, for the last time I am not saying that the lavish NHS pension is "the problem". What I am saying is that when the terms and conditions of NHS staff are considered, the fact that the average GP and senior doctor will receive many hundreds of thousands of pounds from the scheme over the course of their retirement is rarely mentioned and should be taken into account. And I'm very well aware of the changes made in 2015, but the employer (the taxpayer) contribution has actually gone up.

I can see that the considerable benefits you will get in retirement seem distant to a junior doctor (until it's suggested they might be reduced), but trust me, when you get to middle age, with life expectancy well into the 80s, you will realise how valuable they are.

The average contribution from a doctor over their working life will be anything from 150K to 200k
From their salary to their pension
This is at 14.5%

Most people would balk at paying that and would not be able to afford it even as they need the money at hand

If you invested this instead into a property in the right part of London or internationally

You would get a way better return than the NHS pension over 40 years

I don't see your point

And as I said lots of people are choosing to opt out of their pension

So I still don't see your point


I don't want to turn this into a defend the doctors thread

But are you aware doctors pay up to 20K per year out of their own pocket to indemnity insurance which is compulsory?

To protect themselves from complaints and litigation

These charges have more than doubled in the last 10 years

Is that your tory boy post?

This. Terrifies.  Me.

One of the mini Tibidabos is currently in the throes of applying to med school.  This is what keeps me awake at night.  Not the £54,000 fee loan they'll have to pay back (that doesn't include living expenses in London for 6 years) so they can study for 6+years in order to take care of the nation. Not the £100s we've already spent for them to take the exams the med schools insist on, on top of their A levels.

No, the fact that you turn on the telly, see an advert for a fantastic holiday in the Seychelles you can't afford, followed by an advert getting you to have a jolly good old think about whether there may be a doctor somewhere that you'd like to sue.....now THAT would pay for the holiday, wouldn't it?

This is what makes me lose sleep.

Doctors, teachers, nurses should not have to pay to learn to do what they do.  They deserve every penny of their pension at the other end of their lives, surely?  

And hairdressers.

And actors, designers and production students.