The dad of "heart hero" Kit Matthews, who underwent a heart transplant at the Freeman Hospital in 2020 said his family were "firmly behind" the junior doctors' strikes - having seen how NHS staff went "above and beyond" to look after Kit when he fell ill.
Joe Matthews - himself a heart transplant recipient - said he and wife Hannah "couldn't imagine" not backing the strikes. Joe was speaking on the second day of the second stint of industrial action by junior doctors who are part of the British Medical Association.
Kit was just four when he fell ill in April 2020. After a doctor - working on his day off - saw him treated at hospital near to the family's Retford home and was able to diagnose him with cardiomyopathy. However, he was rapidly transferred to the Freeman, and after months at the Children's Heart Unit, he received a life-saving transplant.
Joe - who himself received a heart transplant in 2006 - told ChronicleLive how he and Hannah had both felt compelled to share their support. He said: "I just can't say it enough. The day that the doctor noticed what was wrong with Kit had come in on his day off. If that hadn't happened, we could have had a fatal situation.
"For our family, it's that simple. I don't think it's known enough by those who aren't paying attention that really, 'junior doctor' is just a job title in hospitals - that's not just your young doctors. The question is really why wouldn't I support the strikes?
"We saw it many times how these doctors work flat out, they go above and beyond. And it's not like another full-time job where you might have a bad week and then get the weekend - they really are working flat out, and it's because they want to do it. They see so much negativity but are so positive with patients at the same time.
"Hannah and I are 100% totally behind them."
From the picket line outside of Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary, Dr Martin Whyte - a senior figure on the BMA's junior doctors committee - also told ChronicleLive of a "really good turnout" and strong support for striking medics in the city.
Dr Whyte, a paediatric registrar, said: "There's been plenty of support, people dropping things off for us too. The Government has not really changed its position much at all [since March's strike action]. There may or may not be anything going on behind the scenes, but the public position has been intransigent."
He said there were several factors to consider over the coming days, including the result of the Royal College of Nursing's ballot asking nurses if they will accept the new pay offer proposed in March, which could impact on the doctors' dispute.
Dr Whyte added hospital consultants had passed on support, too, and reported that at this point the hospital was "pretty quiet".
This comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters in Belfast he wanted to find a “reasonable compromise” with junior doctors. Mr Sunak said: “What I’m focused on is making sure we get the right outcome for patients and taxpayers.
"I think the Government has got a track record in showing that it can get round the table and find reasonable compromise and a way through these difficult situations, as we’ve already done with several other health unions that represent over a million NHS workers including nurses and paramedics."
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