Scotland’s leading patients’ rights group has backed today’s nationwide strike by doctors.
Margaret Watt, chairwoman of the Scottish Patients Association, said she hopes patients understand the reason doctors have taken industrial action for the first time in nearly 40 years.
The UK Government wants to raise the retirement age for doctors and increase their pension contributions from 7.5% to 14.5%.
Ms Watt said doctors are now being forced to defend their pensions in the same way as 100,000 public-sector workers did when they went on strike in May.
”I am hoping that patients will be patient because the strike is something doctors are very reluctant to do,” she said. ”This is not really a strike this is a work to rule and they will provide care in emergencies.”
Mrs Watt added: ”I don’t think there will be as much disruption as some people think there will be. Doctors don’t want to let anybody down and they have made sure all the bases are covered when it comes to emergencies.
”If they had taken this action on the earlier day of civil disobedience then I don’t think anybody would have noticed but, because they have done it on their own, there is a lot more criticism.”
Ms Watt added that doctors, despite their greater salaries, have as much right to try to defend their pensions as other workers in the public sector.
”They are all fighting the same fight and doctors will have had to train for a long, long time to get to their current situations,” she said.
”At the end of the day you either support them or you don’t, but I would hope that patients understand doctors are doing this reluctantly.Have you had treatment postponed because of the strike? If so, please contact us on 01382 575130 or email news@thecourier.co.uk”Because of the career they have people think they should not strike but they are contributing to everybody else’s pensions too.”
Ms Watt added that although some patients will have their appointments cancelled, they should not suffer too great an inconvenience.
”It is just one day,” she said. ”I know it is an inconvenience but if your appointment is for something like an ingrown toenail then you can wait for a day to have it removed. That is all we are saying.”
The UK Government wants to raise the retirement age of doctors from 65 to 68 and increase their pension contributions to 14.5% from 8.5%.
Changes will also include scrapping the final salary pension scheme and replacing it with a career average scheme.
The BMA says this means some doctors will lose nearly a third of the value of their pension.
Meanwhile, changes to the retirement age mean those doctors who are already 40 will have to work until they are 62, an extra two years.
Those aged 24 and just at the start of their careers will have to work until they are 67 or 68 to receive their full pension.
The BMA is angry that the UK Government is trying to force through the changes just four years after the pension scheme was last overhauled to make it more affordable.
It says this scheme, which raised the retirement age to 65, produces a £2 billion surplus each year and so there is no need for further changes.
More than 10,000 Scottish members of the British Medical Association voted for industrial action and will technically be on ”strike” today.
However, GPs and hospital staff alike will be required to attend their places of work where they will be expected to carry out their essential duties or provide medical care in case of emergencies.
Unlike when other workers down tools, many doctors will still receive all or part of their salary for today.
GPs are technically self-employed so will not be affected while some health boards will still pay staff for any work they are required to do if there is an emergency today.
NHS Tayside said they would pay striking staff for each hour worked while NHS Fife said an ”appropriate deduction” would be made from the pay of those staff who go out on strike.Advice for patientsDoctors may be on strike today but the public have been assured their health remains a priority.
GPs’ surgeries and hospitals will be staffed and open as normal but doctors will only be prepared to deal with medical emergencies.
Thousands of patients due to attend appointments or undergo day surgery today will have received letters informing them not to attend because of the dispute.
However, patients in Fife and Tayside who were given an appointment for today and have not received a cancellation letter have been told to attend as normal.
Accident and emergency and maternity units will be unaffected by today’s strike, as will NHS 24 and the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Photo by David Jones/PA