Junior doctors on the picket line outside Maidstone Hospital in Kent (Picture: PA)

Today, junior doctors are at picket lines up and down the country.

The strikes are the first instance of industrial action by junior doctors in 40 years.

And one doctor has put pen to paper to explain just how important our NHS is, and why it needs saving.

The letter, by Dr Amy Baigent, an anaesthetic trainee who works in Liverpool, says: ‘Dearest friends


‘I hope that you will put up with me having my five minute post-night shift rant & take a minute to read this.

‘I’m writing because in the last few months those of us working in the NHS have become increasingly worried about its future.’



The medic adds: ‘The reason I’m telling you all this is because I love my job. I wouldn’t change it for the world, I couldn’t think of a bigger privilege than what I do day-to day and I would never have even thought of telling you all this unless everything that we work for as junior doctors was being threatened.

‘We are being completely devalued and demoralised, treated like an easily replaceable workforce and presented as lazy, money-grabbing ‘juniors’ who shouldn’t complain because we went into medicine as a vocation. We want to take action against these changes, which are both unfair and more importantly unsafe.’

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The strike is the first industrial action taken by doctors in 40 years (Picture: PA)

Dr Baigent is fearful that if the proposed contracts are forced through, working conditions, fair pay and, crucially, patient safety could take a severe hit.

‘The term junior doctor applies to anybody from day one after medical school to the day before becoming a consultant or qualified GP – this will be a minimum of 5 years , but for most of us will be in excess of 10 years. We are currently protected by the European Working Time Directive.

‘This means that our average weekly hours are limited to 48, with a maximum of 91 hours in a consecutive seven day period. This protects us from going back to the days when Doctors worked 24 hour on-call.’

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Junior doctors on the picket line outside Great Ormond Street Hospital in London (Picture: PA)

The letter continues: ‘It’s stating the obvious but research has shown that over-worked, tired Doctors make mistakes. After all, would you want your relative being operated on by a surgeon who was in their 14th hour of work, or put to sleep by an anaesthetist who had been on call for 24 hours?

‘Junior doctors are just the first in a long line of cuts, if we lost this fight it will be nurses and physios and hospital porters next. A cheaper workforce is a more attractive bid for companies lining up to profit from running hospital services.

‘Our NHS is not perfect, but privatisation is not the answer. We measure our success in terms of patients, private companies measure success in terms of profits- this will mean pay cuts, staff cuts, increased pressure on those left to manage struggling wards and a demotivated and demoralised workforce. Is this where we want our friends and relatives cared for?

Junior doctors on the picket line outside Maidstone Hospital in Kent (Picture: PA)

‘The NHS is unbelievably important, most of us were born there, it looks after our families and friends when they are sick, it looks after the vulnerable and the elderly.



‘It’s one of the best health services in the world and spending on healthcare per person is also one of the lowest in the world. Your level of care if the same regardless of wealth. This is so precious that we cannot afford to put our NHS in the hands of companies who put profit in front of patient care.

‘We cannot afford to let our NHS go.’

The letter, which you can read in full here, is signed off with a quote from Aneurin Bevan, former Minister for Health.

‘The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it.’

Speaking to Metro.co.uk today, Dr Baigent said: ‘We have been shown enormous support for the strike today by the public, our Consultants and the teams we work with.

‘This has been great and is really appreciated by all of us.’

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