The majority of the British public support the junior doctors in their row with the government over the imposition of a new contract widely regarded to be unfair and discriminatory, according to a new poll.
Despite the spin form government ministers, a poll conducted last week by Opinium Research found that only 18% of the public side with Jeremy Hunt in the junior doctors row, with most believing the fracas is the government’s fault.
As many as 60% of Brits feel that the government should withdraw its threat to impose the contract on junior doctors, with 49% saying they would support further strike action in the future.
The longer the disagreement drags on, the more people side with the doctors, as noted by James Sweatman of Opinium Research, who said:
“When we look at public support across the entire UK population we can see that the balance of favour has always come down on the side of the Junior Doctors. In fact, given the partisan and ideological nature of the dispute between the Junior Doctors and the Government it is quite surprising that even at its peak, opposition only reached 39% of UK adults.”
These details about public support for the doctors comes as the government has agreed to pause its plans to impose the new contract for five days to resume talks with the British Medical Association (BMA), a move welcomed by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
