Michele O'Connor

Freelance writer. Mum of 4. Wife. Sister. Daughter. Friend. Loves reading, the beach and sauvignon blanc. Endures running. Crap at skiing.

[Dr Haseena Wazir @DrHWazir]

While patients wait years for surgery and weeks to see their GP, doctors in England are facing unemployment.

This year, 40,000 doctors applied for just 10,000 NHS training jobs. Without these jobs, doctors cannot progress to become Consultants or GPs.

This is not an accident. The Government has capped training posts, forcing qualified doctors into unemployment or out of the NHS altogether.

At the same time, Wes Streeting is recommending a real terms pay cut for doctors in the coming months.

The combination of a worsening jobs crisis and continued pay erosion is why resident doctors in England are being re-balloted.

Resident doctors in England:
Post your ballot back on jobs and pay now.
The last safe date to post is 26th January.

No ballot yet? Request a replacement by 19th January:
https://t.co/EZ5pRpDUcL

[PS @rheumipainmask]

@DookistAgain @XelenX1 @Traceyjp Same number of GPs as in 1996 can’t give the same care they could then as we have 10million more people in England

Why do we choose to blame the people being forced to care for 10 million more with no extra GPs and a funding cut of 20%?

Why aren’t we blaming politicians?

[Farrukh @implausibleblog]

£18 - hourly rate for a resident doctor after the 29% rise

£24 - hourly rate for a physicians assistant

If you're ok with assistants earning more than actual doctors, congratulations, you've fallen for Wes Streeting and Keir Starmer's attack on the people who will keep you safe when you fall ill, doctors

[BladeoftheSun @BladeoftheS]

I will just point out the Doctors have asked for a maximum of £800m, that's for 71,000 doctors who run all the hospitals.

That's 'too expensive'.

But when the Water Companies asked for £5bn, they were given it.

Broken Britain, money for thieves, no money for you.

[BladeoftheSun @BladeoftheS]

Comparing MPs pay with Doctors.

Isn't it amazing, austerity for everyone except Billionaires and MPs.

What a coincidence.

[Dr Rachel Clarke @doctor_oxford]

I've written this open letter to @Keir_Starmer & @wesstreeting because, though I am desperately worried about NHS patients over the next 5 days, I know this strike by resident doctors is a desperate act of last resort.

Please read.

[ClinOncDoc @ClinOncDoc]

UK media is literally just millionaire presenters calling doctors greedy for wanting to be paid more than £18/hr for saving your lives in the middle of the night.

[Fraser Nelson @FraserNelson]

Sadly, this is exactly right. The NHS now hires one in six of Nigeria’s doctors - and Nigeria needs them.

Yet we turn away thousands of kids with A-stars galore who want to be doctors. The waste of talent - of human capital - is quite something.

https://t.co/TBIZ4yCfq4

[Farrukh @implausibleblog]

Watch this, three GPs can't get jobs

Because Labour's Wes Streeting has adjusted the GP contract which means GP practices have budgets for PAs, and other staff, but not for actual GPs

Labour is literally creating the demise of GPs in the UK

Remember when the Conservatives privatised dentistry, and instead of reversing it, Labour carried on with it?

A similar thing is happening to GP practices and huge number of unemployed GPs

If you're upset you can't get a dentist, imagine how upset you'll be when you can't get a GP

Shame on Labour

[James Steen @BMA_James_Steen]

Ask yourself;

If you, your partner, your parent, or your child, was in the unfortunate situation to need intensive care, wouldn’t you want well rested, well remunerated, fully qualified doctors operating on a well staffed rota, providing the medical care?!

I know I would.

[Mamas A. Mamas @mmamas1973]

I never thought that we would reach a stage that half of new doctors don't have jobs and are forced into benefits- yet we have people with no medical training doing the jobs of doctors!
You couldn't make this stuff up

[Mamas A. Mamas @mmamas1973]

I support the junior doctors in their strike action.

There are funds to pay individuals with no medical training to provide "care" for vulnerable patients leading to multiple documented avoidable deaths- and yet the government will not pay doctors fairly.

It's time to pay our doctors a fair wage- they aren't worth 28% less than they were a decade ago.

[Dr Haseena Wazir @DrHWazir]

Thousands of doctors who could be cutting NHS waiting lists are being turned away; not because they aren’t needed, but because the Government caps how many can train to become Consultants/GPs.

This year 30,000 doctors applied for just 10,000 training jobs. Highly trained doctors who want to stay in the NHS are being blocked from progressing, and some are being forced out altogether. That means fewer doctors in hospitals and GP practices, and longer waits for patients.

The public feels the impact of this every day: longer waits, overstretched services, and fewer doctors available when you need them.

Despite this, the Government’s plan is to bring forward only 1,000 extra training places; far below what’s needed to meet public demand or build up the workforce.

On top of the jobs crisis, the Government has recommended a real terms pay cut rather than continuing the journey towards pay restoration. Those two factors together are why resident doctors were forced to strike again, and why we are now reballoting all grades of resident doctors from the 8th of December to the 2nd of February.

Doctors: update your BMA account details (workplace, home address, training grade etc) to ensure you receive your postal ballot:
👉 https://t.co/5KvMJe87lt
Vote YES for jobs and pay.

If we cannot recruit and retain NHS doctors, patients will be the ones who feel the impact. That is the reality the Government still refuses to address.

[Dr Haseena Wazir @DrHWazir]

While millions of patients sit on waiting lists and A&E waits spiral past 10 hours, the NHS is actively blocking doctors who are willing and able to help.

This year 30,000 doctors applied for just 10,000 specialty training jobs (which are capped by the Government). That means thousands of doctors who want to become the Consultants and GPs we desperately need are being turned away. And UK medical graduates aren’t even being prioritised for the limited places that *do* exist.

The result? Highly trained doctors are stuck in limbo, pushed into unemployment or forced out of the NHS entirely. Patients wait longer, services get stretched thinner, and the NHS pretends it’s a mystery that it’s happening.

Meanwhile, @wesstreeting continues to look on without offering a single credible plan to end this jobs crisis in England; the same crisis he’s been warned about repeatedly.

Doctors want to train. Patients need care. The only thing standing in the way is political choice.

https://t.co/sE7m4zslgr

[Dr Rachel Clarke @doctor_oxford]

NHS doctor here, Rupert. If you'd checked your facts before this racist dogwhistle, you'd know that every NHS doctor can speak English - as proven by their IELTS proficiency (look it up... or are you just a populist hatemonger for whom facts don't matter?). Kindness may not solve everything, but my God the hate you spew is builds nothing, improves nothing, and only stokes division.

[Dr Haseena Wazir @DrHWazir]

While patients face 10hr A&E waits, doctors in England can’t get the training jobs they need to become Consultants/GPs due to Government caps.

In 2025, there were 30,000 docs applying for 10,000 training spots.

This is one of the reasons we’re on strike.
https://t.co/u5It5fqlVu

[Luke Mordecai @Shr_Nottingham]

I would like Wes to answer 2 questions honestly:

Why is he paying doctors less than their assistants?

How does this year’s sub inflationary pay rise reflect the commitment he promised to fair pay restoration last year?

People are sick of the broken promises & gaslighting

[Dr Julia Grace Patterson💙 @JujuliaGrace]

No Wes Streeting, the BMA is not acting like a cartel. It’s acting like a trade union. And frankly it’s disgusting to hear you talk like this while huge numbers of doctors can’t get NHS jobs because you haven’t created them, while millions of patients are on waiting lists🚨🚨🚨

[Dr Julia Grace Patterson💙 @JujuliaGrace]

Such a pity that frontline NHS staff aren’t given the space in newspapers to air their thoughts, as Streeting is. The NHS is currently missing around 100,000 staff. It’s no surprise when they’re bashed continually for fighting for fair working conditions🚨
https://t.co/d3IdDFHtBy