Thread by @DrANChekroud

I've been relatively quiet re: strike action (other than likes/RTs, and posting a ballot paper pic) and that's likely due to a lot of reflection/being busy at work. I spent my whole life in/out of hospital as a patient and have seen how the provided care has deteriorated 1/n

over time. I started working in the 2nd wave of the pandemic and in no uncertain terms it was an absolute mess. I raised concerns after concerns and was ignored/disciplined/gaslit at all levels. F2 was better (aside from a terrible rotation in GP) in no small part due to 2/n

vaccine rollout and its changing the way that covid changed patient presentations. Since 2016 i've been in hospitals in some form and have just seen steadily worsening conditions for all staff not just doctors, and the impact of worsening funding. 3/n

In every trust I've worked in I've seen it practically- care packages not available, no community beds available, unable to get equipment into homes, no hospice beds funded, running out of reagents so unable to do tests in the labs. running out of blood bottles every 3rd week 4/n

of the month. running out of cannulas of appropriate sizes and having to use oversized ones. running out of drug stock in the *entire trust*. I've been working in ED nearly 6 months now and the commute is an exercise in anxiety- will it be a mess? Will we be ok staffed? 5/n

I've lost count of how many patients (adults, typically not the kids) and caregivers have verbally abused me since I started, about things that are system issues not individual issues. I've stopped apologising for waits when introducing myself because it's not my fault. 6/n

I have all the other concerns that generally haunt people my age- student debt (I haven't even begun to pay off more than the interest that keeps getting added on), poor quality housing and a rental crisis with predatory landlords, rising cost of living, 7/n

On top of that is the nonsense of being a junior doctor- being infantilised and disrespected by colleagues at every turn, a government that actively chooses to worsen conditions, a total disrespect from HEE/NHSE to medical education and degrees, job scope creeps 8/n

actively worsening my training and removing training opportunities ("You don't do your own procedure X, the *insert other staff members* will do them they need the experience"). I've moved house 3 times in 2 years because of work, to places I have no support network 9/n

I'm applying to training with no guarantee I'll be anywhere I've ever lived before or know anyone, and no say in the matter. On top of that is the pay issue.

Fundamentally I am worth more than I am being given. I work ~180h/month, most of them anti-social 10/n

most of them that I can't apply for annual leave on either (lol). I was given a contract that actively deviates from national T&Cs and hasn't been corrected despite my escalating higher and higher. With the decisions I have to make, the conditions I work in 11/n

and the responsibility I have, coupled with the risk inherent to working in Paediatric ED, I should be paid more. I could make the same amount cycling for deliveroo. I could make more nannying/tutoring (and have in the past). I've decided at what point I'd leave the NHS 12/n

and it's really not that far from where we're currently at. I have options for working in medicine abroad or leaving medicine entirely. I also really don't want to do that. I love my job and it's all I've ever wanted to do but I won't be taken for a ride in this system. 13/n

I say this quite a lot in discussion- my life would be far easier/better if I didn't love my job and care about what I do deeply. But the NHS has been actively broken by the government, it's not something thats soon to happen. 14/n

So I'm striking because I'm worth more, the system needs to be funded and staffed appropriately. #BMADoctorsVoteYes