Letter: Pay and conditions for doctors in Northern Ireland need to be addressed, as a matter of urgency

Recent reports and editorials flag up concern about pay demands from doctors in training posts (‘Doctors do deserve a better package but should not be striking,’ March 6).

I retired some years back following a career as an NHS medic. Recent contacts reveal a service in crisis. One friend landed to a Christmas season dinner two-three hours late, and looking as white as a ghost. The pressures of work, on GPs and consultants, are very intense.

Latterly, a social meet up with a consultant friend lasted 30 mins. They began to fall asleep after 30 mins one evening, so we rescheduled a Saturday lunch. Medics report days where they struggle to have a coffee break, a toilet break or a lunch break. Younger doctors enter an information overloaded NHS environment, where complex data requires meticulous interpretation, yet time pressures are intense. Tiers of regulation and oversight ensure punishment in the case of errors. Alleged errors can set in motion inquiries lasting months or years.

I asked medics at our December dinner if they would prefer to face Jesus or the General Medical Council. Quick as a flash, one said: "Jesus, for a quick verdict based on all the available facts, and the possibility of forgiveness for errors.” The disappearance of junior NHS medics to New Zealand, Canada or Australia etc is no mystery.

Pay and conditions in the UK need to be addressed, as a matter of urgency. Indeed, might the Tories be inclined to take NHS medicine in the direction of UK dentistry, where money dictates who can afford treatment and who gets none at all?

Dr James Hardy, Belfast BT5