Doctors are Revolting

Or to be more precise, striking.

The members of the British Medical Association are going to provide only emergency care on the 21st June 2012.

The dispute is about pensions.

79% of GPs, 84% of hospital consultants and 92% of junior doctors voted in favour.

Let see what they currently earn as basic salary’s :-

" 
In the most junior hospital trainee post (Foundation Year 1) the basic starting salary is £22,412. This increases in Foundation Year 2 to £27,798. For a doctor in specialist training the basic starting salary is £29,705. If the doctor is contracted to work more than 40 hours and/or to work outside 7am-7pm Monday to Friday, they will receive an additional supplement which will normally be between 20% and 50% of basic salary. This supplement is based on the extra hours worked above a 40 hour standard working week and the intensity of the work.

Doctors in the new speciality doctor grade earn between £36,807 and £70,126.Consultants can earn a basic salary of between £74,504 and £100,446 per year, dependent on length of service. Local and national clinical excellence awards may be awarded subject to meeting the necessary criteria.

Many general practitioners (GPs) are self employed and hold contracts, either on their own or as part of a partnership, with their local primary care trust (PCT). The profit of GPs varies according to the services they provide for their patients and the way they choose to provide these services.

Salaried GPs employed directly by PCTs earn between £53,781 to £81,158, dependent on, among other factors, length of service and experience. "

Source NHS website here.

As for their pensions.The average hospital consultant retiring now will enjoy a pension of £48,000 a year and a lump sum of over £140,000.  Among public sector pensions being paid out, doctors account for two thirds of the top 1% of pay outs.

The average male GP retiring at 60 receives £46,600 annually, dwarfing the public sector average of £1,400. Source here.

And what are the new proposals that are so terrible ?

Under the proposals, all NHS staff will be required to work until the state pension age (rising to 68 by 2046) until they can draw a full pension, 60 for those covered by 1995 scheme and 65 for the 2008 scheme. Contributions increased from 1 April 2012 by 2.4% for doctors earning over £48,983 and by 1.5% for those doctors earning £26,558 – £48,982.

So If I understand rightly Doctors are being asked to pay more and work longer. Dear Doctor please let me be the first to welcome you to the real world !

and can I point out that your paid too much in the first place ? have a read of this excellent article here.

And of course we have not even mentioned doctors and consultants earnings from private work, drug companies etc .

Doctors, your being greedy and the fact that you are willing to let people suffer for that greed makes me despise you.

The Doctors are revolting, in every sense of the word.