OPEN LETTER - signed paper copy to follow in the post

Dear Mr David Cameron MP and Mr Jeremy Hunt MP,

What does a 'junior' doctor look like? Any Doctor who is not a Consultant or
GP as you must be aware but perhaps the general public less so. In my case:1. 4 year 1st Class honours degree in Nursing
2. Nursing Matron & Primary Care Trust Lead by 24 years old
3. 4 year accelerated degree in Medicine
4. Department of Health change agent working on delivering national clinical
improvement projects whilst studying as medical student
5. 8 years postgraduate medical experience working as a 'junior' doctor
6. Single working mother to a four year old daughter who has her own health
needs
7. Direct responsibility every day for multiple life changing decisions for
patients and their families
8. 19 years experience working in health care provision
9. You trust me with your child, your parent, your sibling, your soul mate, and
your best friends. You trust me with your life. You trust me with your future.
You trust me with your death.
I am a 'junior' doctor!
And I still earn LESS basic salary than I did before I started re-training as a
doctor 12 years ago.
Nowadays though I am also responsible for providing for my own child's
needs and future, with ongoing student loan repayments, mortgage,
childcare costs, medical defence fees, specialty college fees, GMC fees,
course fees, exam fees, equipment costs, historical divorce legal costs, the
list is endless....
So Mr Cameron and Mr Hunt, and all your advisors, let us straight talk:1. You already know you do NOT CURRENTLY pay my worth, or that of any of
my colleagues.
2. You already know our families have to support us to in order that we can
survive and work as an NHS doctor.
3. You already know we have in fact paid for the privilege to be a doctor
through significant student debts, daily unpaid goodwill, and all our ongoing
costs for our professional development and responsibilities that we cannot
work without.
4. You already know many of us have paid high personal costs in our
relationships, health and our right to a work life balance for much of our most
productive years.
5. You already know we turn up and stand up to be counted every day despite
this, and that it matters that we do.
6. You already know we often work in unsafe intolerable & worsening
conditions because of the historical undervaluing of us and all NHS staff, and

that means you cannot recruit nor retain anywhere near enough staff to meet
even reasonable current need
7. You already know if I wanted to earn lots of money I would never have
chosen this life path. I did it for more altruistic reasons but you feel the right
to take advantage of this.
8. You already know I could have done anything else I wanted to and that I
still could with my transferable skills and work ethic.
9. You already know you would rather I treated your loved one in their hour of
need than somebody less able, less dedicated, less giving and less willing to
put themselves and their own family last.
10. You already know that we are ALL highly intelligent & gifted professionals
with more life experience than most ever encounter in a lifetime.
So you cannot have thought I, and my colleagues, would be silent and
complacent enough to stand by whilst you threaten us and IMPOSE significant
negative changes on us in terms of our contract, our hours and pay, and
ultimately to the patient safety WE have responsibility for?
So let us cut to the chase, the bucket is empty and the Camel's back is well
and truly broken in all NHS staff. You say you want to talk then let us talk but
that requires you to listen, take proactive, constructive action and apologise
since you continue to insult us, our families and the public with your ongoing
strategy. I have NEVER seen NHS morale this low. The misplaced altruism
required for me to sit back and allow you to DICTATE unfair terms and
conditions and quite frankly destroy my beloved NHS will not safeguard my
mental and physical health, put a roof over my child's head or food on her
table or allow me to be present as a responsible parent in her life. Nor will it
allow me to protect the public whom I continue to serve. You somehow seem
to have forgotten that your own jobs depend on us. Not the other way
around. You already know that even if we decide to just work to rule the NHS
will grind to a halt and in doing so is likely to eventually take your
Government down. Yet you continue with your destructive and antagonistic
campaign. You are correct that our current contract is outdated and unfair but
that remains to your advantage not ours and what you are likely to impose
will be even more unfair and a return to historically unsafe working practices.
No one is set to 'win' with your continued arrogance and dangerous pretence
of being informed rather than ignorant. So call me, let us talk one
professional educated person to another, let us get real and let us see what
you really value and believe.
Yours sincerely,