Young doctors have been counseled for ‘unkind comments’ they receive during next week’s devastating strikes, the Mail can reveal.
An architect of the action said medics must “take care of ourselves and our mental health” during the strikes – despite expert warnings, the disruption will result in patients “inevitably dying”.
Dr. Adrianna Zembrzycka, from the British Medical Association’s (BMA) junior doctors committee, offered support to those who are “targeted by negative and unfriendly comments”.
The militant leader said the BMA “provides a range of peer support, counseling and welfare services” to all affected as they fight for a 35 percent pay rise that will break inflation.
But there was apparently little concern about the 250,000 patients whose vital surgeries and appointments will be canceled during the four-day strike that begins Tuesday.
Dr. Adrianna Zembrzycka (pictured), from the British Medical Association’s (BMA) junior doctors committee, offered support to those ‘targeted by negative and unfriendly comments’
The militant leader said the BMA provides “a range of peer support, counseling and welfare services” for all affected as they fight for a 35 percent pay rise that will curb inflation (photo: Striking doctors-in-training outside Downing Street)
Last month’s three-day campaign saw 175,000 cancellations as young medics withdraw from A&E and intensive care units across England.
Politicians criticized the doctors, telling them to “focus on the patients they let down.”
Conservative Party Vice-Chairman Lee Anderson said: ‘Medical Momentum, the BMA, needs to gain traction.
While they are on strike, 250,000 surgeries are being canned. They should help the people who will miss their appointments instead of giving ‘advice’ to their members because people are fed up with these stunts.
“The leadership of the BMA junior doctors needs to focus on the patients they are abandoning, come around the negotiating table and end this strike.”
Dr. Zembrzycka, deputy co-chair for professional issues on the BMA’s physician committee, wrote the “woke” article on the union’s website last week.
She said the decision to take industrial action means “the weeks and months ahead will be extremely busy and challenging.”
The medic continued, “We will all have to take care of ourselves and our mental health and well-being.
“We may get more media attention, we may feel extra pressure in our workplaces, or find interactions with bosses, colleagues, patients, possibly even friends and family, more difficult.
‘As representatives of the people, deputies and committed trade unionists, we are on the front line. And unfortunately, this can mean becoming the target of negative and unkind comments.
“It is understandable that this can have a negative impact on our mental health and so I would like to ask everyone to do as much as they can to take care of themselves and protect their mental health and well-being.”
She then listed the “peer support, counseling and welfare services” offered, adding that they are “not limited to pay disputes.”
Dr. Zembrzycka said their standoff with the government “could get quite bumpy,” so medics “really need to take care of ourselves and others.”
She also urged medics to “remain kind, compassionate, polite and respectful at all times” — despite doctors sharing mean memes online.
A meme used clips from the famous “Here’s Johnny” scene in The Shining to show Health Secretary Steve Barclay being chased with an axe.
Dr. Zembrzycka signed her letter by writing, “We are in this together and I suspect we will need each other badly. Stay together, fight together, win together.’
Dr. Zembrzycka (pictured) signed her letter by writing, “We are in this together and I suspect we will need each other badly. Stay together, fight together, win together.’
The comments are likely to infuriate the hundreds of thousands of patients who have had surgeries and appointments cancelled.
Leading heart experts have warned that critically ill patients will “inevitably die” as a direct result of the union action.
Dr. Richard Grocott-Mason, managing director of Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, said: ‘I think it is only right to warn that some patients will inevitably die as a result of the cumulative impact of delaying hundreds of the waiting list.’
He said 300 ‘P2’ patients waiting for heart surgery – the second highest priority group – now have to wait even longer for surgery.
“It’s no exaggeration to say it’s delaying surgery for this group [P2s] will cause damage. For some, this can be life-changing. For others, it can mean an untimely death,” Dr. Grocott-Mason said.
Despite the warning, the committee of junior doctors will not offer strike waivers next week for all areas of life and death care, including A&E, and intensive care and maternity care.
This has enraged some senior medics, especially given that the Royal College of Nursing has exempted many areas of life and death care from the strikes it has held since December.
The BMA stressed that the range of welfare services is available to all physicians, including non-members, and “is not limited to pay disputes.”
A spokesman said: ‘The BMA is proud to provide welfare services not only to our members, but to the wider profession, whether during a pandemic, during the challenges of industrial action or at any other time.
“We care for doctors so they can care for patients.
“The BMA is proud to provide wellness services not just to our members, but to the wider profession, whether during a pandemic, during the challenges of industrial action or at any other time. We care for doctors so they can care for patients. It is insulting and stigmatizing to fire people for seeking help for their mental well-being, especially given everything doctors and their colleagues have gone through to care for people during the Covid pandemic, often at the expense of their own physical, mental and emotional health.”