I will open this post with a true story, but must warn you: it is a harrowing read. I can promise you, it's even harder to write.
This is the story of how my father died in front of my very eyes.
It was a cold, snowy November day. We were going on a family outing: my mother, aged 29; myself, aged 4; my 4-month-old baby sister and my 30-year-old father, who was driving. Whilst travelling along a country road, the car started to veer violently from one side to the other. At first, I thought it was a game, but the fear in my mother's voice as she frantically shrieked "CHRIS!", along with a look of sheer panic on her face that I will never forget, quickly indicated it wasn't. We skidded on black ice and the car lurched at high speed into a ditch. There was a deafening BANG of what I later learned was the sound of dense wood crashing through metal; a fence post burst through the driver's door at speed, straight into my dad's side.
I could continue, but I won't in detail. The smell of the pine in a stranger's house while we waited without my parents; not understanding being in the ambulance; being told by my mum that dad had died and knowing that was bad but not truly comprehending. Snippets of the day that changed my family's lives forever.
Years later, I decided I wanted to do what I could to stop the same thing happening to somebody else; to change the outcome if possible. I committed to studying medicine, with a view to specialising in emergency. In the case of my dad, it was through no fault of the emergency services he did not live. The story would remain unchanged. But if I can be involved in a different story - even if only one in my entire career - with a different outcome, then it will all be worth it.
Now; to the point of this post. It is not for sympathy, nor attention, nor to upset. It is to outline why the Tories are shooting themselves in the foot by ignoring the next generation of junior doctors coming through the NHS.
My motivations for studying medicine are, as explained, deeply entrenched within my being. I will become a doctor regardless of what shit the government imposes. I wanted to travel for a few years after qualifying to help out overseas in a developing country, in disaster relief or the like, and always thought I would come back to the UK. But at the rate Jeremy Hunt et al. are destroying the NHS, this now seems increasingly unlikely.
I do not wish to delve into the complexities of the junior doctors' contract here. My general comments would be that as a workforce all staff, though juniors especially, are overworked, underpaid and seemingly from a government perspective, underappreciated. It is not safe to work longer hours than already occurs. It is not fair to pay so poorly for a job which requires so much sacrifice, so much soul.
This government increased fees the year I went to university. My degree is six years in total, meaning I am now paying £54,000 rather than £18,000 for tuition while my Scottish counterparts pay nothing (should be grateful I'm not paying international rates, right?). I have given so much of myself to studying this degree - years I will never get back. For me, it will be worth it for reasons explained above - but I no longer have an inclination to stay in the UK long-term.
The Conservative government believe it is acceptable to impose a contract that has been voted against by junior doctors. The Leave campaign believe it is acceptable to blatantly lie about additional funding for the NHS that will never transpire. They then too should be willing to accept that they are penalising a cohort who have a skill set that can be taken anywhere in the world; and just well might be.
Of course, there will be people who disagree. Those who will stay in the country no matter what happens. Those who support what Hunt is doing (though it's not many Junior Doctors, that's for sure). But I no longer have any qualms about giving my honest opinion: this government are going just the right way to driving the educated youth away from this country. Not just medical students, but anyone who realises that they want to live somewhere that isn't spiralling spectacularly into a self-destructive chasm. In a country that is progressive. That supports LGBT rights. That doesn't have a system where someone who thinks that being a mother equates to being professionally superior to her childless contender and uses it as a genuine argument in her bid for power. That understands their people, especially their young people, who comprise the future population of their country.
Because right now, I am disillusioned with the future, and the most uncertain I have ever been. The government needs to realise that they should not be targeting those who have bright futures, for they will look elsewhere.
To anyone reading this, thank you so much for taking the time.
This one's for you, dad.
Love from Rachel xxx
original post at www.amendtheagenda.blogspot.com