Would you support the doctors' strike.

I believe there are no prescription charges in Scotland and Wales, which is wonderful if you live there, but here in England no such luck unless of pension age.

My comment was, that the population in England is vast!

So sports injuries do not affect A & E ?

What has scrip charges to do with this? And yes England has a larger population and a larger dip in the pot , or does Wales have the same to spend on NHS as England ?

So in your world finding something unpleasant equals being outraged? Overreaction?
Stupid remark?
Democracy dictates, to some extent, that a country gets the political policies of the government it elects.

Mcem, seems England gives money to Wales, Scotland and N Ireland, wonder where the taxes go from these three countries

Ab I'm just thinking back to some of the patronising remarks which appeared during the discussions on the Scottish referendum and I'm sure that you and I wouldn't want to revisit that.
There are times when we have to wonder just how 'united' this kingdom is.
A country gets the policies of the government it elects. Let's practise patience!

Rubbish mcem
If Scotland, Wales and NI can afford to give free prescriptions for all, and free university places ( no tuition fees) then who exactly is funding this largesse? Certainly not JUST the people in those countries,and if Scotland ever goes it's own way, the taxes will go up massively for those who live there. The truth is that people in England get a raw deal, and have done for quite a while now.Add to that that all immigrants, from both EU and all other countries in the world, want to live in England and it's no wonder we have a long wait for a doctor etc.True, a lot of these people are paying tax and NI, but many are not, especially when out of a job, and needing benefits ( one of the things Cameron is trying to change.) The population here is huge, and the NHS has to do things differently here, which was the answer I was originally commenting on.

Trying to make everything 'personal' is idiotic, things are just the way they are, and any Gnetters who live in Scotland, Wales and NI are lucky to have the advantages in the NHS, nothing personal at all, just that we are disadvantaged here in England, and nothing to do with government policy, as it was the same under Labour, NHS in England cannot cope properly with the huge population.

Google "tax revenue from Scotland" anniebach and the top result is a PSDF called "HMRC tax receipts split between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland"

It may take you a while to find all the information you need.

Please don't let's get into divisive arguments about this.

No tuition fees in Wales? Wrong

Immigrants say they want to live in England because they are taught the UK is called England , and more want to live in countries in Europe than here anyway

The people in England suffer no more than the rest if the country

“On average, Scotland paid £400 more in tax per person to the UK Treasury than elsewhere in the UK last year . . . . .the fourth highest revenues of the 12 countries and regions of the UK, after London, the South East and East of England." Nicola Sturgeon, 11 March 2015

You may of course argue that Nicola Sturgeon could be a little biased in her statement, however the official figures are around to be checked.

Have you checked about tuition fees in Wales and Scotland? the last time I looked they were free at universities in those countries for all Scottish or Welsh students.Perhaps now they pay a small amount towards the cost?
It hardly matters what immigrants think the UK is called, they want to live in England,
The people in England DO suffer more, as they pay full tuition fees for their children and pay prescription charges!
I agrree Elegran about not being divisive, but these are facts, and ab
Wondered why NHS England did things differently.

Thank you Elegran, good grief I failed O'Level maths , will wait in the hope one of our brighter posters will work it out, I was amused at the figures given in inheritance tax , poor Wales

We have different priorities Rosesarered ,

Ah, averages.So people in London, then the South East,then the East of England and then Scotland etc.So if you live and work in the South East of England you pay more ( and get less) but statistics and averages can really skew figures into almost anything, so we won't go down that road ( well, I won't anyway.?) It's like the average price of a house in England.

If house prices are higher in England it is simply because people can afford to pay them

you have a daft answer to everything.

Truly we are digressing in an unhelpful fashion here. Can we get back to the Junior doctor's strikes please and keep it on track!

I have been thinking about this one over and over again- and I still can't make up my mind. As Galen says, Junior doctors these days have it so much 'easier' than the previous generation- where 130+ hrs a week was the norm. Not saying in any way shape or form that this was a good idea- DH's health and me and the family really suffered from this (as a young foreign mum in England without family support)- but ont he other hand- I've met many young doctors recently who don't seem to believe medicine is a 'vocation' and are not prepared to make sacrifices for their career. I can really see both sides. Becoming a doctor and not wanting to do nights or week-ends, seems anathema to me.

When a 5 doctor practise from the 90s, becomes an 11 doctor practise in 2016, and without night and week-end calls- you can soon see that it's going to be very expensive, and that patients will not get continuity of care.

It is clear that the NHS is being attacked- and that the private system is waiting in the wings to take all the pickings with glee.

granjura junior doctors are not saying they don't want to work nights or weekends, although their hours are now limited (and 70 seems quite enough to me) they still get the anti-social shifts. Hunt (seeing an opportunity to cut corners and save money) wants them to accept less money for these hours. They have tried to work out a deal but he won't shift. They are striking so they can have a reasonable salary for the work they do.

And we use to send children down the coal pits , just because doctors use to work all God given hours doesn't mean they should continue to do so and I truly believe it is a vocation, why else become a doctor ? Not for long holidays , why choose to spend one's working life sticking one's hand up people's bums, watching people die ,delving into abdomens etc , a vocation or kinky ?

Grandjura hospital doctors are not striking because they don't want to do nights and weekends. And GPs are not involved in the current dispute.
But yes - the NHS in England is under a sustained attack, on several fronts, from the Tory government. Attacking the hardworking hospital doctors, introducing full student fees for student nurses who are expected to do a significant amount of nursing, and privatising chunks of it are just the headlines.
Some things - like staff shortages - may look like bad luck, or incompetence. Maybe - or maybe not. They lie and present their policies as helpful when they are counterproductive e.g. saying today that by making nurses pay for their own training there will be more money available to train more nurses. Give me a break.
Health spending is devolved in Wales - a lump of money is given to the Welsh government to spend on education, health and other public services as they decide.
Scotland and Wales are given more money because they have long been economically deprived and suffer from geographical problems that England in the main does not. There is a lot of history behind this, and the deprivation and poverty in Wales and Scotland is the result of this history. Just as the greater affluence of England is a result of history. And of course immigration is also a product of history.
Immigrants these days tend to prefer to settle where there are jobs, or where it is favourable to start a business, not in jobless backwaters where well-educated locals struggle to find work.
Statistics show that on balance they make a contribution to the economy rather than being a drain.

Anya I don't think my son, or junior doctors in general are making your simple distinction (between more time off or more money). My son felt, during this period, that that was his lot, he would get through it, and eventually finish his very long training. Like most doctors, he regards his work as a vocation, and can't imagine doing anything else. What he doesn't want is to see is the government making changes that will make life even more difficult for juniors. He and his consultant colleagues support the proposed action (even though it means extra work for them covering the duties!).

Why the insults hummingbird ?