Confirmed: the junior doctors’ strike was about money, not patient safety

Everyone respects doctors. Some people even love them. They may not be quite as nobly exalted as nurses but they’re still worthier-than-thee. And why not? It’s a job that’s as demanding as it is vital. Everyone knows this too, which is one reason why no-one objects to the fact that doctors with modest seniority are amongst the top 20 percent of earners and those with greater experience still higher up the income scale. It is a profession and deserves to be rewarded as such.

Rewards come in different forms, of course, and respect is just as important as cold, hard, cash. Junior doctors felt disrespected by the terms of the government’s proposed new contract for their services (in England). Who the hell was Jeremy Hunt to dictate terms to them? Who in their right mind would take Mr Hunt’s side in any prolonged and public dispute with the profession? Quite.

Even so, professional self-respect – as well as public relations – demanded that the doctors argue that the dispute was about something grander than mere remuneration.