Time for doctors to face salary reality | Letters

Bob Forster doesn’t think an anaesthetist’s wage is unreasonable. Plus a letter from Martin Ryle Your correspondent (Letters, 19 November) recounts her career as a doctor in the NHS where, despite rising to senior consultant, her final year’s salary before tax was just over £100,000, a figure she defines as “a bit pathetic”. To most Guardian readers, that figure is a small fortune. By way of comparison, after 37 years as a primary school teacher, including 24 years as a head, my final salary was £50,000, a figure that I found perfectly acceptable as reward for a challenging and immensely satisfying role.Bob ForsterShipton under Wychwood, Oxfordshire• Presumably the retired consultant anaesthetist Elizabeth Taylor was aware that many of those who worked with her on the wards would have been expected to get by on less than half that amount? I wonder what word she would use to describe their pay?Martin RyleLewes, East Sussex Continue reading...

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