Junior Doctor's strikes - your opinion:

My sister is a junior doctor so I have a strong opinion. I'm curious what everyone else's opinion is.

I work in a factory environment, we get premium payments for weekend work as unskilled workers, cant see why doctors don't deserve the same. Best of luck to them I say.

They are getting a 11 % payrise with the new contract ,I think doctors should be working 7 days week ,to patient s it shouldn't matter what day of the week they go into hospital as the care should be the same ,currently on weekends it's nor so something has to change

No striking but they have to be represented fairly,its a junior position and will soon be earning money far beyond what most can obtain.They should work on a 7 day rota but some sort of cap on hours worked....

This Government have systematically lied and manipulated their way (one by one) through a number of working groups and Junior Doctors are just the latest in line. Like certain others (sadly not all) the Doctors are entitled and indeed should stand up for themselves against a tirade of false statements and manipulations of the Press by Cameron and his jobsworth side-kick!

It's called 'stealth' and nobody seems to notice until it's THEIR turn to be targeted!

Weekend work should be part of the shift pattern in my opinion

People can't help being ill on weekends

Who would I trust in this debate Doctors or good honest tory politicians

Recently spent a few hours in Swindon hospital last week for some stiches to be put in and I was talking to a doctor about it who treated me, he said if a patient comes in near the end of his shift your expected to carry on until that patient is seen to and situation resolved. They don't get paid for hours they work over there contracted hours along with a list of other things. One minute the government are saying we don't have enough NHS staff so lets invest millions on the younger ones coming through and the next trying to bleed the ones there already dry. Bonkers, the media will only print what there allowed he also said.

This Government have systematically lied and manipulated their way (one by one) through a number of working groups and Junior Doctors are just the latest in line. Like certain others (sadly not all) the Doctors are entitled and indeed should stand up for themselves against a tirade of false statements and manipulations of the Press by Cameron and his jobsworth side-kick!

It's called 'stealth' and nobody seems to notice until it's THEIR turn to be targeted!

Spot on Sven. It's all part of the Tories systematic deconstruction of the NHS. They know they are in the best position ever to destroy the crown jewel of Labour's political legacy knowing they have years left to do it.

If any of you think junior doctors striking is anything to do with pay, you're wrong and you're falling for the Tory spin machine. Junior doctors are not selfish. They are striking because their new contract and tougher hours will put patient's lives at risk. They know mistakes will be made and standards will slip but that's what the Tories want so they can claim the NHS doesn't work and they can promote their mates who own private firms.

It's so obvious. If you can't see what the Tories are doing then it's ridiculous. If you're working class or from a working class background and support what the Tories are doing and what they represent then shame on you. It won't be long before they come for you and what you stand for.

Weekend work should be part of the shift pattern in my opinion

People can't help being ill on weekends

They do not work Mon to Friday ony!!

I agree that they deserve a fair deal out of this whole situation and the pay is deserved considering the amount of skill, training and responsibility that they have. However, I don't think that working weekends is an unreasonable request as from experience working on wards just having a emergency consultant on call or the odd doctor being around wasn't always practical. Good luck to them though I hope they can come to some sort of agreement because as soon as someone suffers as a result of the strike then I can see the public sympathy being turned right around and then they'll be the ones in the wrong

A lot of Tory bashing here as always but surely a 7 day NHS is needed? These junior doctors will live like paupers for a few years and then live like kings the rest of their lives with generous working hours and huge salaries. If you aren't happy with your contact then sod off and work elsewhere, that's what I say. Half the worlds doctors would love to move here and fill there places including hundreds of thousands of highly qualified Indian doctors who are more than welcome to come.

A lot of Tory bashing here as always but surely a 7 day NHS is needed? These junior doctors will live like paupers for a few years and then live like kings the rest of their lives with generous working hours and huge salaries. If you aren't happy with your contact then sod off and work elsewhere, that's what I say. Half the worlds doctors would love to move here and fill there places including hundreds of thousands of highly qualified Indian doctors who are more than welcome to come.

On this post I will not say " here here oldman "

The old guard would be furious at the indian doctors bit

A lot of Tory bashing here as always but surely a 7 day NHS is needed? These junior doctors will live like paupers for a few years and then live like kings the rest of their lives with generous working hours and huge salaries. If you aren't happy with your contact then sod off and work elsewhere, that's what I say. Half the worlds doctors would love to move here and fill there places including hundreds of thousands of highly qualified Indian doctors who are more than welcome to come.

On this post I will not say " here here oldman "

The old guard would be furious at the indian doctors bit

My doctor is an Indian man, can't understand a word he says but he always gives me what I want and fixes me up so can't complain.

A lot of Tory bashing here as always but surely a 7 day NHS is needed? These junior doctors will live like paupers for a few years and then live like kings the rest of their lives with generous working hours and huge salaries. If you aren't happy with your contact then sod off and work elsewhere, that's what I say. Half the worlds doctors would love to move here and fill there places including hundreds of thousands of highly qualified Indian doctors who are more than welcome to come.

On this post I will not say " here here oldman "

The old guard would be furious at the indian doctors bit

My doctor is an Indian man, can't understand a word he says but he always gives me what I want and fixes me up so can't complain.

So is mine, gives you a poke about for fifteen seconds then gives you tablets that's about it

They are getting a 11 % payrise with the new contract ,I think doctors should be working 7 days week ,to patient s it shouldn't matter what day of the week they go into hospital as the care should be the same ,currently on weekends it's nor so something has to change

Why should anyone have to work 7 days a week?? That's insane they are paid to provide care and attention to sick people how could anyone work 12 hour days every day of the week and provide that?

Some blinkered views on here

The simple answer to this is they are severely underpaid and overworked

How is anyone to get quality care when your being attended to be a walking zombie that already done a 72 hour working week and is now doing overtime?

The 48 hour working limit was brought in for a reason to stop employers taking the piss out of employees the fact that doctors have to opt out of this is disgusting yes I understand it's a 24/7 service but it's not a 24/7 job, the fact is the NHS is underfunded massively and they could make it far fairer if they simply employed more junior doctors

It's all about cost one junior doctor working 72 hours a week for £23,000 if they were capped at 48 hours the country would need almost double the doctors hence why they are just expected to work massive working hours and in my opinion risking patients lives in the process

A lot of Tory bashing here as always but surely a 7 day NHS is needed? These junior doctors will live like paupers for a few years and then live like kings the rest of their lives with generous working hours and huge salaries. If you aren't happy with your contact then sod off and work elsewhere, that's what I say. Half the worlds doctors would love to move here and fill there places including hundreds of thousands of highly qualified Indian doctors who are more than welcome to come.

Sorry butty but gotta take you on here.To take your second point first alot of these Jr's are actively seeking work elsewhere and getting it.But its the Tory trick of trying to get a quart out of a pint pot thats at work here.What is needed here to solve this problem are more trained doctors not spreading what we've got dangerously thin.I remember the old days when 120+hrs a week was the norm for the average doctor-they used to live in the place that they worked.I don't blame them at all for not wanting to go back to anything like it used to be for them regardless of that fact that they are rewarded well.

Weekend work should be part of the shift pattern in my opinion

People can't help being ill on weekends

Weekend working is pretty common and 'accepted practice' in the UK these days and Doctors (and Nurses and Physios and the equally important staffs at all levels) are no different in 'accepting' this

What they are concerned at is that the changes to their contracts and what it entails for both themselves and (I believe them when they say more importantly) their patients!

Don't EVER be fooled into thinking this Tory Government under Cameron are concerned with little other than cutting costs in many industries, emergency services and other public sector areas, as it simply isn't true!

What rubbish these doctors don't work 7 days they work 5 and it is done on a shift basis so they do work weekends but not every one

They are getting a 11 % payrise with the new contract ,I think doctors should be working 7 days week ,to patient s it shouldn't matter what day of the week they go into hospital as the care should be the same ,currently on weekends it's nor so something has to change

Why should anyone have to work 7 days a week?? That's insane they are paid to provide care and attention to sick people how could anyone work 12 hour days every day of the week and provide that?

I think he means 7 day rota.....as do a lot of people...

Working 9 - 3 as we speak, without extra pay, just time in lieu.

If they don't like it tough

Conservatives slowly eroding any rights people have of protesting/striking regarding work practises, soon workers have no rights what's so ever! It is stealth but until effects you no none notices.