An open letter to the Nurses of the NHS

I’m one of the thousands of Junior Doctors working in the NHS. We’re a group that includes not only the fresh-faced newbies that fill you with fear for a few weeks every August, but all your doctors up to the level of consultancy.

I’m sure many of you have read some of the multitude of articles and letters that have been shared over the last few weeks. I wonder whether you’ve been underwhelmed by the stories of empathy, of sacrifice, and of heartbreak. Why? Because you go through exactly the same every day. These scenarios are not unfamiliar to you. We work side by side on the wards, in clinic, and in the community, and work as a team to provide the best for our patients.

I feel privileged to have worked side by side with some of the most knowledgeable and compassionate nurses I could ever imagine, and I know that there are thousands of other doctors out there who are as eternally grateful for your support.

And so it is that once again, we need your help.

If the contract changes being implemented by health secretary come to fruition, we believe wholeheartedly as a profession that this could be the start of the dismantlement of the National Health Service as we know it. I’m not going to re-hash figures – they’re in most of the letters that have already been written – but as colleagues that know what it’s like to care for patients on the front line, I’m sure you’ll understand our concern that patients’ safety is at risk. Doctors will leave either the profession or the country, and their tired replacements will make mistakes in the 90^th hour of their working week.

Unfortunately, it’s likely that Mr Hunt has your profession in his crosshair too. Once he’s crossed the doctors off his list, would you bet against other health care professionals being next in line? These contract changes need to be stopped at source.

So how can you help? By raising awareness, primarily. You may have been surprised at the lack of media interest in the issue, and without public support our position is certainly weakened. Please tell your friends and tell your patients, or post a message of support on social media. Perhaps you’d like to join us when we protest in the streets? I know you’d be welcomed with open arms.

Teamwork is what allows us to work together to look after our patients, and right now teamwork might be what saves the NHS from Jeremy Hunt, and from irreparable damage.

Yours,

Dr Mike Forsythe

GP Trainee