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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/26/jeremy-hunt-not-junior-doctors-patients-show-support-for-all-out-strike
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| 'I blame Jeremy Hunt, not junior doctors': patients affected by the strike | 'I blame Jeremy Hunt, not junior doctors': patients affected by the strike |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| On Tuesday, junior doctors will stage the first all-out strike in history over controversial new contracts they say will cut pay and damage patient safety. The move means 125,000 NHS patients have had their hospital treatment postponed, including pregnant women and cancer sufferers. So what do the people affected have to say? | On Tuesday, junior doctors will stage the first all-out strike in history over controversial new contracts they say will cut pay and damage patient safety. The move means 125,000 NHS patients have had their hospital treatment postponed, including pregnant women and cancer sufferers. So what do the people affected have to say? |
| Related: Hospitals braced for walkout as Hunt says doctors' strike must be defeated | Related: Hospitals braced for walkout as Hunt says doctors' strike must be defeated |
| ‘I am worried that my baby and I will be affected. However, Hunt is the one who wants to dismantle the NHS’ | ‘I am worried that my baby and I will be affected. However, Hunt is the one who wants to dismantle the NHS’ |
| I am heavily pregnant at the moment. While I am, I hope, unlikely to need emergency care this week, having had a smooth pregnancy so far and not yet at my due date, I still can’t help but worry that my baby, husband and I will be affected were anything unforeseen to happen. After all, my local hospital is already stretched without industrial action to exacerbate the situation. I have found that I am being much more cautious than usual and it is playing on my mind. It’s an unnecessary and preventable worry that Jeremy Hunt should make an effort to resolve. | I am heavily pregnant at the moment. While I am, I hope, unlikely to need emergency care this week, having had a smooth pregnancy so far and not yet at my due date, I still can’t help but worry that my baby, husband and I will be affected were anything unforeseen to happen. After all, my local hospital is already stretched without industrial action to exacerbate the situation. I have found that I am being much more cautious than usual and it is playing on my mind. It’s an unnecessary and preventable worry that Jeremy Hunt should make an effort to resolve. |
| I fully support the strike. The medics have made it clear that the strike could be called off by offering numerous olive branches, compromises or invitations to talk further; the reason it is going ahead is down to Hunt’s stubbornness. But in truth, I think we know that this is all part of a plan to dismantle our NHS, and there is nothing we can do to stop it. Nothing will persuade Hunt to agree to anything that will call off the strike, and I don’t get the impression that he feels any regret about this. Kate, 29, from Lincolnshire | I fully support the strike. The medics have made it clear that the strike could be called off by offering numerous olive branches, compromises or invitations to talk further; the reason it is going ahead is down to Hunt’s stubbornness. But in truth, I think we know that this is all part of a plan to dismantle our NHS, and there is nothing we can do to stop it. Nothing will persuade Hunt to agree to anything that will call off the strike, and I don’t get the impression that he feels any regret about this. Kate, 29, from Lincolnshire |
| ‘My check up for prostate cancer has been cancelled, but my support is still with the health profession’ | ‘My check up for prostate cancer has been cancelled, but my support is still with the health profession’ |
| I was meant to be checked for bladder or prostate cancer, which was deemed non-urgent. You key yourself up to have this done and then you are left hanging on not knowing when it is now going to take place. It’s unsettling to say the least. Having said that, my support is still with the doctors and dedicated health professionals who run the NHS. They’ve saved my life and I am grateful for their continued support. I am certain they have not taken the decision to strike lightly. It’s just typical of the pig-headed stupidity of this government that they are not prepared to talk or compromise in any way and have consequently allowed this situation to unfold. And they keep telling us the NHS is in safe hands . They couldn’t give a stuff about how their decisions affect people’s lives. Shame on them. Anonymous, 53, Wirral | I was meant to be checked for bladder or prostate cancer, which was deemed non-urgent. You key yourself up to have this done and then you are left hanging on not knowing when it is now going to take place. It’s unsettling to say the least. Having said that, my support is still with the doctors and dedicated health professionals who run the NHS. They’ve saved my life and I am grateful for their continued support. I am certain they have not taken the decision to strike lightly. It’s just typical of the pig-headed stupidity of this government that they are not prepared to talk or compromise in any way and have consequently allowed this situation to unfold. And they keep telling us the NHS is in safe hands . They couldn’t give a stuff about how their decisions affect people’s lives. Shame on them. Anonymous, 53, Wirral |
| ‘I am concerned my dad’s operation will be delayed, but don’t blame the doctors’ | ‘I am concerned my dad’s operation will be delayed, but don’t blame the doctors’ |
| My wife is due to give birth to our first child very soon. My father has also recently been diagnosed with stage two bladder cancer and requires urgent surgery and chemotherapy. I am worried that my wife and baby won’t get the best possible care if the medical teams working in my local hospitals are short-staffed when she goes into labour. I am even more concerned that the operation my father needs will be delayed, harming his chances of survival. But I broadly support the junior doctors’ decision to strike and think they have taken it as a last resort, for reasons which go beyond their own basic pay and conditions. I’m anxious about the care my loved ones are likely to receive over the next few weeks, but in the longer term I also want them to be cared for by doctors who are well rested, and properly paid for their time (particularly when working anti-social hours). They are already undervalued and imposing this contract will mean even more doctors leave. Anonymous, 29, from north-east England | My wife is due to give birth to our first child very soon. My father has also recently been diagnosed with stage two bladder cancer and requires urgent surgery and chemotherapy. I am worried that my wife and baby won’t get the best possible care if the medical teams working in my local hospitals are short-staffed when she goes into labour. I am even more concerned that the operation my father needs will be delayed, harming his chances of survival. But I broadly support the junior doctors’ decision to strike and think they have taken it as a last resort, for reasons which go beyond their own basic pay and conditions. I’m anxious about the care my loved ones are likely to receive over the next few weeks, but in the longer term I also want them to be cared for by doctors who are well rested, and properly paid for their time (particularly when working anti-social hours). They are already undervalued and imposing this contract will mean even more doctors leave. Anonymous, 29, from north-east England |
| ‘Junior doctors lost my sympathy when they withdrew care’ | ‘Junior doctors lost my sympathy when they withdrew care’ |
| My wife is due an endoscopy for possible bowel cancer this Wednesday. She’s scared enough as it is without worrying whether her appointment may either be delayed or cancelled at the last minute. Right now she needs the help and support of those in the medical profession and they are more interested in what they can earn at weekends instead of caring for the very people they have sworn to protect. | My wife is due an endoscopy for possible bowel cancer this Wednesday. She’s scared enough as it is without worrying whether her appointment may either be delayed or cancelled at the last minute. Right now she needs the help and support of those in the medical profession and they are more interested in what they can earn at weekends instead of caring for the very people they have sworn to protect. |
| Withdrawing medical aid to those in need breaks the Hippocratic oath that all doctors vow to do at the start of their career. Those participating in industrial action who have stated that they withdraw their services from saving lives are now playing at God. That is unforgivable. As soon as junior doctors chose to withdraw care and treatment they lost my sympathy. Anonymous, 52, from Hartlepool | Withdrawing medical aid to those in need breaks the Hippocratic oath that all doctors vow to do at the start of their career. Those participating in industrial action who have stated that they withdraw their services from saving lives are now playing at God. That is unforgivable. As soon as junior doctors chose to withdraw care and treatment they lost my sympathy. Anonymous, 52, from Hartlepool |
| ‘Patients will die due to industrial action’ | ‘Patients will die due to industrial action’ |
| I’ve been waiting three months for an appointment with a consultant, and it will be cancelled due to the strike. Thousands of people like myself will have their first consultant appointments cancelled. Of these, some fraction will have undiagnosed life-threatening conditions. Some fraction of these will die because their treatment was delayed. While we can’t point to an individual and say this person died due to the strike, statistically some people will die due to the industrial action. Ian, 58, from Newcastle | I’ve been waiting three months for an appointment with a consultant, and it will be cancelled due to the strike. Thousands of people like myself will have their first consultant appointments cancelled. Of these, some fraction will have undiagnosed life-threatening conditions. Some fraction of these will die because their treatment was delayed. While we can’t point to an individual and say this person died due to the strike, statistically some people will die due to the industrial action. Ian, 58, from Newcastle |
| ‘I am a junior doctor and have my first baby due this week. I fully expect to be safe’ | ‘I am a junior doctor and have my first baby due this week. I fully expect to be safe’ |
| I am a junior doctor, and I am also due to have my first baby on Wednesday, the second day of the strike this week. There are many things I am worried about in relation to becoming a new parent, but the possibility of giving birth on a strike day is not one of them: I am confident that consultants and other healthcare professionals will maintain a safe service in the absence of junior doctors. My personal experience as a hospital doctor during the previous strikes was that meticulous planning took place to maintain patient safety through increased consultant cover and I fully expect the same thing to happen this week. I hope this is reassuring to anyone in a similar position to me who might need emergency care, maternity or otherwise, this week – I fully expect it to be safe. Anonymous, 38, from London | I am a junior doctor, and I am also due to have my first baby on Wednesday, the second day of the strike this week. There are many things I am worried about in relation to becoming a new parent, but the possibility of giving birth on a strike day is not one of them: I am confident that consultants and other healthcare professionals will maintain a safe service in the absence of junior doctors. My personal experience as a hospital doctor during the previous strikes was that meticulous planning took place to maintain patient safety through increased consultant cover and I fully expect the same thing to happen this week. I hope this is reassuring to anyone in a similar position to me who might need emergency care, maternity or otherwise, this week – I fully expect it to be safe. Anonymous, 38, from London |
| ‘Urgent care will not be affected’ | ‘Urgent care will not be affected’ |
| I have an urgent outpatients appointment at University College hospital in London tomorrow. This is going ahead. Urgent care is not affected. Rowan, 29, from London | I have an urgent outpatients appointment at University College hospital in London tomorrow. This is going ahead. Urgent care is not affected. Rowan, 29, from London |
| How are you affected by the strikes today? We want to hear from more patients. Share your story with us here. |