According to Civitas:
Despite a severe shortage of doctors in the NHS, medical school places are restricted by the government to just over 6,000 a year. This is exacerbated by many of newly-trained doctors quickly leaving the NHS to work for agencies, private providers or overseas.
This despite the government pledging to increase the number of places to 7,500 a year by 2018.
Don’t your nurses just go elsewhere when they have completed their courses.
Yes, that was my point about attractiveness. If we did a better job of retaining the doctors we did train that would be a good start.
Missed that one!
I have asked this before but not gotten a perspective. And it might come across as mockery but I am not, there was this American white man who demands to be identify as a Filipina woman, how do you now deal with that? And the Dutch man, 60 year old who wants to be legally identify as 18. For age we can point to universally agreed calendar and a year is a year but then for many years, a male is a male. You cannot be Filipina because that is a border, country issue but thats in the past. In the past, a female is a female.
Any good person should not deny another person’s right to feel safe and respected but when is it a right and when does it become ridiculous? How do you decide to allow one thing and then say to the other that your request is ridiculous?
I have no answer. And I do have friends who felt ostracized because they are gays so I understand how hard it is. But in trying to do what is right for a person and what is right as a person, how far do we go in each end of the scale?
We don’t avoid doing the relatively simple things because somewhere along the spectrum it might get harder. That would be my principle.
I agree that retaining doctors would be a massive help, but the primary problem is that we don’t train enough in the first place and have to rely on inwards migration usually from the third world, something which isn’t good for us nor for the “provider” countries.
By the by, the inducements to leave the NHS must be very good, or the pressures very bad, to tempt a newly qualified doctor into leaving the NHS. A newly qualified doctor is required to work for the NHS for four years; if they leave before completing this period of service they have to repay the cost of their training estimated to be £220,000.
Edit: Mightn’t a return to the old fashioned means tested grant system help increase the number of trainee doctors from poorer backgrounds?
But it’s all going to plan isn’t it?
Make working for NHS less attractive, train more doctors, push them into the private sector, show that private sector is better resourced, push more work towards private sector.
I note that yet more contracts have been pushed in that direction again. Hancock did publish them this time I think.
Another interesting thread on the life impacts of coming from a disadvantaged socio-economic background.
So does that mean prior to birth, babies should be refered to as parasites? 
They are technically sexually transmitted disease
Nope, not before birth. When they are five and nine and sucking the very life out of you, then I think it’s fair. 
No they’re not
Not even slightly
Serious question. Leaving the Covid angle to one side do people think this is racist?
I do, but I appreciate that a) I’m hyper sensitive to it and b) I also happen to know a little bit about the history behind the decline in the language which is a bit enraging and adds to that sensitivity
Is this what is meant by long covid? 
Tbh, I don’t think it is racist but then again I’m sure that my own perspective is probably biased here too. It’s banter isn’t it? Bit like all the friendly stuff that’s come our way since the weekend Although sometimes what comes that way feels a little too heartfelt at times…I’m sure you know what I mean! 
I would definitely want the Welsh language to survive and ultimately see a revival though so if this kind of “banter” would/could jeopardise that then I can totally see your point of view and would want to see it become decidedly less common place. Such to make it unlawful (as being deemed racist)? I’m not so sure. More socially unacceptable so such instances would provoke widespread condemnation.
I think it’s a quite well informed and intelligent gently ribbing. It’ also probably true 
While I agree that the person that probably wrote this probably did think this was all a bit of light hearted banter, I feel that is part of the issue. It’s considered an easy and an acceptable target because its not English. It’s another example of belittling the language as if English is superior.
When you find that the history effectively beat the language out of children because it was considered inferior, you start to realise that there’s this slow and steady erosion of the language on both an intentional, accidental level as well as a natural one. Being brutally honest, a big part of that stems from another section of horrible British history that has been brushed under carpet. To me there are some really basic parallels with it and 1930’s Germany; and its largely forgotten or not known.
But I do 100% concede that I’m too sensitive to it to be objective to it but I do find I have similar feelings that I’m sure others find when they are racially abused. There’s this sense of that I should laugh it off but it churns the stomach a bit.
Yeah, I can understand that. It’s this sense of being “othered”. It would be hard for most newsreaders to say though. I’m now wondering whether the SA variant actually has a Xhosa name and everyone’s just calling it the SA variant because they can’t click their words.
That’s what would happen in your meme - it would just be called the Welsh variant. I’m not sure if that sort of erasure is any better though?
In a weird way I would find it more acceptable if there were actually a Welsh variant or even a Llanfair variant. It would be factual and where it was found first so fully understandable.
It’s the fact that it’s someone thinking it would be funny that bugs me I think. They obviously think it’s funnier than saying Manchester variant or Kent variant etc.
In all honesty I actually dont have an issue with people “having a go” at the language. I appreciate that more than someone who thinks it’s easier to just come up with something completely different. We’ve actually had that issue in my local area where someone who had moved into the area, makes no effort to learn the language decided that they would call a certain area by an English slang version. The rage in the local community was pretty fiery to say the least.
I’d definitely have a go at saying it but as someone not used to enunciating words and sounds that way I’d probably make a total hash of it! My son can trill, roll his Rs, all sorts, he was trying to teach me how to do it yesterday. I just couldn’t come close to replicating his dexterity. He’s 4.
