You’re probably right. I’m coming to the conclusion these strikes are doomed. The consultant one will fizzle out and the juniors will limp on leaving a lashing disaffected workforce who are actively looking to emigrate. 

Imho ppl are past caring. 

I also think the government line that UK consultants are better paid than many of their european counterparts is finding some traction with the public

Crypto I am sure a significant minority are looking to emigrate but the ties of friends and family are stronger than the lure of a bigger pay packet for the majority and always will be

True but we are already pretty hard up and it doesn’t take many leaving to cause serious shortages. The people coming from overseas are not, IMO, as good as they were years ago when we had legions of excellent Indian and African Drs to prop us up. Those people are either staying at home or going stateside. 
 

The government’s solution seems to be these physician associates who are pretending to be Drs. All I will say is to keep paying your BUPA. 

I agree, we’re going to need to escalate.

All I will say is to keep paying your BUPA. 
 

I understand that many private practitioners are moving to cash-only, because of the shoddy rates paid by insurers.

I’ve heard that but my understanding is that most private practice in the U.K. is insured patients. Psych may be an exception but once you start needing scans, labs, and procedures it becomes very costly. 
 

Hard to know where we can escalate from here. I’m actually a little surprised at how little movement there’s been from the government after such sustained action but I don’t see giving up as an option. 

Reckon the next steps are a) longer walkouts b) indefinite walkout.

The government’s solution seems to be these physician associates who are pretending to be Drs.
 

And yeah, this is a scandal in the making. How you can turn people with such little training and experience loose on the general public I have no idea. I take imaging requests from them in ED (under the aegis of the ED consultant), and the level of knowledge and ability leaves something to be desired.

On the plus side, keeps us in work, albeit for slightly different reasons.

Heh. The whole thing is a disgrace and I think some of these people are misleading pts into thinking they’re Drs. I don’t have a problem with the concept but I do have a problem with saying they’re the “equivalent” of a SHO (or even Reg!).