23-07-2025
Why junior doctors are right to strike back
Photo by Guy Bell/Alamy
My previous diary for the New Statesman was headlined 'Why junior doctors are right to strike'. That was 10 January 2024. Eighteen months later, here we are again. Resident doctors (now the preferred term) are still underpaid – 22.6 per cent less in real terms than they were in 2008-09. Strikes will begin on 25 July after 90 per cent of voters in a recent British Medical Association ballot supported industrial action. The only significant difference between these imminent strikes and those of January 2024 is the ruling party: with Labour in government, it's no longer possible to blame the Tories exclusively for breaking the NHS. The Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has already warned doctors that 'the public won't forgive them', and that increasing their pay 'wouldn't be fair to other NHS workers either, many of whom are paid less'. Hardly a break from unsympathetic Tory tradition.
I must declare a vested interest here. As a midwife, I am one of those 'other NHS workers' on a comparatively lower wage. The recent 3.6 per cent pay uplift offered to midwives in England, Wales and Northern Ireland 'barely covers an inflationary rise', according to the Royal College of Midwives, while a two-year pay offer of 8.1 per cent to those in Scotland just squeaks past the expected rate of inflation. This bare-minimum recognition of midwives' value undoubtedly contributes to our profession's recruitment and retention crisis, and it can't be unrelated to our disproportionately high rates of poor mental health.
But far from resenting our colleagues' fight for fair pay, many of us support resident doctors unequivocally. We hope that full pay restoration for medical staff will set a precedent that might eventually benefit all NHS workers. A rising tide lifts all boats, even if, as Streeting suggests, the public wants us to drown in our own avarice.
Streeting's surprising inquiry
Midwives often profess to have 'seen it all' – from unlikely couples and miraculous conceptions to babies born in hospital car parks – but the one thing that has surprised us recently is Streeting's announcement of a national maternity investigation. The inquiry aims to improve outcomes by examining the failures of the worst-performing services across the country, formulating a 'clear national set of actions' by December.
While any effort to rectify substandard care should be applauded, the Health Secretary's announcement was met with consternation by many midwives. Not only have numerous 'sets of actions' already been outlined by previous inquiries, but one does wonder how Streeting plans to take any action at all when, in April, the government slashed its Service Development Funding for maternity from £95m to £2m. The Royal College of Midwives' chief executive, Gill Walton, said at the time: 'These budget cuts are more than shocking; they will rip the heart out of any moves to improve maternity safety.' It remains to be seen whether change can be delivered by such a callously gutted service.
Boomer baby boom
In lighter news, the Office for National Statistics has announced a remarkable 14.2 per cent rise in the number of babies in England and Wales born to fathers over the age of 60. What's going on here? I suspect a post-pandemic boom in older men recoupling – and then reproducing – with younger women, as average maternal age hasn't seen a proportionate increase. Whatever the reason, it's yielded a bumper crop of babies; the overall number of live births has risen for the first time since 2021.
Life rumbles on
Midwives, then, are still very much in business. The NHS keeps NHS-ing, and life goes on, punctuated by the familiar landmarks of British summer: ever-worsening heatwaves, forest fires, Glastonbury scandals and Wimbledon wins. In my own little world, I am busy unpacking boxes; after 23 years in our family home, including one year as empty nesters, my husband and I have downsized to a flat in an area that's better for coffee shops than it is for school catchments.
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Amid the house-move chaos, some things remain constant: my husband heads to his job in the Scottish Ambulance Service every morning, and I pack my scrubs for my next shift in the hospital. We're both trying, in our own way, to keep people safe, but we'd quite like to be paid fairly for our commitment, too. Sorry, Wes; sorry, reader – can you ever forgive us?
[See more: Doctors are striking over the shambles that's been made of their careers]
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