Scotland’s young doctors have a moral duty not to follow English into strike action |
As Scotland’s Resident Doctors decide whether to strike, Andy Maciver shares their view that their pay is too low, but argues that striking is not the answer
Two seemingly contradictory things can be true at once. This is not a particularly controversial statement, but it seems pertinent this week as we see England’s Resident Doctors striking, and their Scottish colleagues voting later today on whether to join them on the picket lines.
The debate over the pay and condition of doctors truly is a nuance desert - a place where reasoned debate goes to die.
In this case, the two seemingly contradictory things which are true at once are as follows: yes, doctors should be paid more, but no, they should not strike.
I have some skin in this particular game. My wife is an NHS doctor, albeit a Consultant rather than a Resident. So I have had a front row seat through her career. I can tell you, therefore, that relative to the rigorous requirements of this job, it is poorly paid.
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That rigour comes in many forms. Firstly, being a doctor requires an exemplary academic and extra-curricular record; from the age of 13, they cannot drop a single A grade. If they are interviewed for a place at a university medical school they also need to score sufficiently highly in an additional skills test (the UCAT), before admission. There are no skipped lectures for a hangover like I used to do; medical students will be in a clinical setting immediately. Summer breaks are not spent ‘finding yourself’ in Cambodia - rather, they will be on months-long........