RESIDENTS of Bromsgrove expressed their support for junior doctors when approached about the impact of the 18-hour strike on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Retired resident Richard Hughes said: “It hasn’t affected me. I’m all for it because they work hard and do a good service. As far as I’m concerned the government’s trying to scam everybody. I think the junior doctors should get what they deserve.”
Avril Aust (pictured top right) said she is supporting the 48-hour walk-out because her eldest son is a medical consultant.
She said: “The junior doctors are in a very unfair situation.
“The government is trying to destroy the health service. My son works weekends, he’s on call all the time and he knows how hard he worked as a junior doctor and now as a consultant.
“If you want doctors to work longer hours then they need to be paid for it. We wouldn’t expect bus drivers, the police or anybody else to.
“I feel very strongly about this. I don’t think we appreciate the NHS. We don’t have a clue what we have and it’s being destroyed. And they’re trying to cut back while wealthy people siphon tax-free money from off-shore accounts. It just makes me very angry.”
She added: “The strike hasn’t affected me. They’ve got it under control because consultants like my son are covering the junior doctors.”
But not everybody is happy with the junior doctors strike. A man who did not want to be named said: “I had an appointment at Worcestershire Royal which was cancelled and now I won’t get an appointment until July 12. I have osteoarthritis so goodness knows how long it will be before I can have the operation.”
A man who said he is a member of the activist group Anonymous said: “It hasn’t affected me but they’ve got every right to strike just like any other group and the Government is holding them hostage.
“As far as I know, nobody suffered as a result of the strike. They gave six weeks notice rather than the statutory one month.
“And the question I ask is why does Jeremy Hunt want doctors to work 24-7 when MPs don’t? They’ve always provided cover at weekends and through the night, so what’s it all about? It’s hypocrisy. “
Meanwhile, others like Bromsgrove resident, Mrs Cowx, believes by striking, junior doctors are ‘putting our safety first.’
