Voices: ‘Doctors are not self-indulgent’: Readers on NHS strike action as flu cases rise

Independent readers are split after resident doctors voted to press ahead with a five-day strike just before Christmas, prompting a furious response from health secretary Wes Streeting, who branded the action “self-indulgent” and “dangerous”.

Many in our community criticised the timing, arguing that striking during peak winter pressures and record flu admissions risks harming patients and eroding public trust. For these readers, doctors should have waited until January to maximise leverage without endangering care, with some questioning whether the right to strike should apply in such circumstances.

Others strongly defended the doctors, pointing to more than a decade of real-terms pay erosion, worsening conditions and staff shortages. They argued the overwhelming vote for action shows deep frustration, not militancy, and accused successive governments of exploiting goodwill while underfunding the NHS.

Several commenters blamed Conservative austerity for the current crisis, while some warned Labour’s confrontational tone risks repeating past mistakes rather than resolving them.

A recent poll of readers reflected the divide in opinion: 47 per cent said doctors have no choice, 18 per cent supported strikes but said the timing was wrong, while 35 per cent opposed the action, saying it will harm patients.

Here’s what you had to say:

Whilst I believe the doctors are wrong to strike, it was a cast-iron certainty when Streeting caved in to their pay demands.

I’m afraid if Streeting did not see this then it exemplifies his naivety, and that of the government.

Their inexperience was obvious pre-election and we are paying for it now. We were warned by Rishi!

Imsethorus

If I were a Tory (unlikely) I would keep my mouth shut about anything to do with the NHS. When Gordon Brown left office, public satisfaction with the NHS was at a record high. The state it is in now is 100 per cent down to the Tories. The public knew that, but kept voting Tory anyway. Choices have consequences.

I can see why Wes Streeting is frustrated, and I don’t envy him having to sort out 14 years of Tory NHS-bashing. But he needs to moderate his tone. Shouting about the BMA and resident doctors being this, that and the other is straight out of the Tory playbook. It is not going to help him.

I have to say that in their shoes I would have left a strike until January. But I’m not a resident doctor, and a 5 to 1 majority for striking shows they feel that enough is enough, and the warning light has been on for a long time. Despite the frothings of the last five administrations, and (sadly) it seems this one too, doctors are generally not difficult, Communist, irresponsible, etc. They are talented people doing a difficult job and asking the government, and society, to recognise that.

Donc79

Medics normally have my full support but the resident doctors have this all wrong.

They have a right to strike, but they choose when and how, and there is no need to strike now. They could easily wait to strike until the flu season has peaked, and still have the impact of a strike but without putting the public in unnecessary danger. This is ill-timed and ill-judged, and they will lose the public’s support.

Plenty of other public sector workers can argue they’ve missed out on pay rises throughout austerity, but not all can strike. If they insist on being this irresponsible, perhaps it’s time for doctors’ right to strike to be reserved – like police and army…

Bobby

Doctors are hardly part of the revolutionary class, so when they vote in these numbers for strike action, something is seriously wrong. We are mostly all dependent on the NHS for our health and, for some, whether they live or die, so we should be doing something to make doctors’ jobs doable. This is not just wages and training, but also conditions of service, the support of allied professionals and an investment into new technologies. Let’s do something rather than just tinker around on the sidelines.

Ithinkweknowtheanswertothat

I do sympathise with the doctors, but those in urgent critical need of care do not have the luxury of sympathy for them. Laying on a trolley in a corridor or the back of an ambulance is the norm now. How much worse would it be if the doctors got exactly what they demand, when there is only one pot of gold? How will that improve the lot of their patients? Certainly not in a good way. Something has to give. Longer waiting lists and more cancellations.

Equally, the government needs to make a reasonable offer, payable over a period of two or three years. Not right now – that is extortion.

Chuckiethebrave

I’m a little tired of the emotional blackmail that successive governments and the press subject workers to if strike action is threatened. They are accused of being selfish and unreasonable. Let’s put this in context: 14 years of either no pay rise or a below-the-rate-of-inflation rise. Pay cuts. A lack of training places for doctors finishing their degrees. If you treat people badly enough for long enough, they will ultimately withdraw their goodwill. This isn’t this government’s fault but they have inherited the consequences of 14 years of taking advantage of the goodwill existing in the public sector. Those calling for privatisation might want to consider how much better doctors are paid in that sector.

Speculator

Poor Wes still doesn’t get it. The resident doctors are only doing what’s right by wishing to return their income level (depleted by the Tories) to current rates. What can be wrong with that? We need these dedicated people who’ve studied for years, seen their relative incomes eroded far more than other equivalent professions, and also find that their advancement prospects are severely limited by cheaper foreign competition. Of course, Conservative austerity is ultimately to blame for this current crisis, but is it any wonder that increasing numbers of these disillusioned folks are leaving the country to our national disadvantage?

hayneman

Self-indulgent? Streeting isn’t good at his choice of words, is he? The last thing doctors are is self-indulgent. It’s a job with an enormous amount of sacrifice.

I remember him saying the NHS had its ‘begging bowl’ out each winter to cope with flu season.

He and all health secretaries should be made to follow a junior doctor on a week’s work. They wouldn’t be able to cope after one shift.

Rowantree

Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.

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