Support for striking resident doctors among colleagues is dwindling, as consultants express growing frustration with repeated industrial action. In a series of letters to the Guardian, an NHS consultant described hearing colleagues label resident doctors as “foolish”, “unprofessional” and “tone deaf” for voting to strike again.
The consultant, who works in a north-east trust, noted that before the first strike in 2023, consultants wrote an open letter of support and provided extra cover. But after a pay rise and offers of increased training posts and exam fee reimbursement, goodwill is vanishing. “Providing extra cover on strike days is exhausting, and is at a cost to our personal lives,” the consultant wrote.
Retired public health adviser Karen Ford argued that the dispute is likely to continue not because doctors are stubborn but because of political posturing and inadequate workforce planning. She noted that 30,000 doctors competed for just 10,000 specialty training posts this year, leaving thousands unable to progress. Medical students also graduate with debts nearing £100,000, with interest pushing them to £120,000 on early NHS earnings of around £17 an hour.
Resident doctor John Sowerby urged the BMA not to scapegoat overseas doctors, stating that decades of underinvestment, not immigration, are to blame for training shortages. He called for legislating for a large increase in postgraduate training posts.
A final-year medical student from the University of Manchester added that the government has not made a good faith offer to the BMA. The strikes, which cost the NHS hundreds of millions per round, continue with no resolution in sight.
