{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,24]],"date-time":"2025-03-24T09:15:31Z","timestamp":1742807731520,"version":"3.40.2"},"reference-count":8,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"2","funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000923","name":"Australian Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DE220101536"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DE220101536"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000923","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Med Ethics"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,30]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>We respond to David Wilkinson\u2019s arguments against our view of the ethicality of doctors\u2019 strikes and our claim that the 2023\u20132024 UK doctors\u2019 strikes are morally permissible and arguably supererogatory.<\/jats:p><jats:p>Wilkinson proposes that in specialist outpatient settings, striking doctors should help arrange their own cover to prevent disproportionate harm to patients and to abide by the principles of non-maleficence and fiduciary duty. This hasn\u2019t happened during the 2023\u20132024 UK doctors\u2019 strikes; therefore, in his view, these strikes are morally impermissible. We reject Wilkinson\u2019s proposal on the grounds that the risk of disproportionate harm is adequately mitigated by existing arrangements and his interpretations of non-maleficence and fiduciary duty are overly demanding.<\/jats:p><jats:p>We agree with Wilkinson that strikes put particularly high pressure on covering doctors in chronically under resourced specialisms. But this doesn\u2019t justify calling off or depowering doctors\u2019 strikes because, without effective strikes, under-resourcing is likely to continue and, ultimately, cause even more harm.<\/jats:p><jats:p>Wilkinson argues that doctors cannot justifiably strike in the interests of public health because they don\u2019t have a broad duty to public health. We think they do have such a duty; however, we argue that doctors can justifiably strike in the interest of public health whether they have such a duty or not.<\/jats:p><jats:p>Finally, we defend our claim that doctors\u2019 strikes can be supererogatory from Wilkinson\u2019s objections that there may be no such thing as supererogatory action and that our view absurdly entails that strikes can be supererogatory despite placing unfair demands on others.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/jme-2024-110264","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,13]],"date-time":"2024-07-13T17:15:14Z","timestamp":1720890914000},"page":"137-138","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["UK doctors\u2019 strikes 2023\u20132024: still justified in the interests of public health, even in time-critical outpatient contexts"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"51","author":[{"given":"Doug","family":"McConnell","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Darren","family":"Mann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025032212000993000_51.2.137.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.1136\/jme-2024-110036","article-title":"UK Junior doctors\u2019 strikes and patients with cancer: a morally questionable Association","volume":"19","author":"Wilkinson","year":"2025","journal-title":"J Med Ethics"},{"key":"2025032212000993000_51.2.137.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jme-2023-109568"},{"key":"2025032212000993000_51.2.137.3","unstructured":"Thompson J , Kearney I , Horsley L , et al . The state of medical education and practice (SoMEP) barometer 2022. 2023."},{"key":"2025032212000993000_51.2.137.4","unstructured":"Ambrose T . Nearly 19,000 NHS patients left waiting for three days in A&E over 12 months. The Guardian; 2024."},{"key":"2025032212000993000_51.2.137.5","unstructured":"Gregory A . Deadly cancer treatment delays now \u2018routine\u2019 in NHS, say damning reports. The Guardian; 2024."},{"key":"2025032212000993000_51.2.137.6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1530","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.p1530","article-title":"Reversing the urgent and emergency care spiral of decline","volume":"382","author":"Cooksley","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"2025032212000993000_51.2.137.7","unstructured":"General Medical Council . Good medical practice. 2024. Available: https:\/\/www.gmc-uk.org\/ professional-standards\/professional-standards-for-doctors\/good-medical-practice"},{"key":"2025032212000993000_51.2.137.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/medethics-2015-103310"}],"container-title":["Journal of Medical Ethics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/jme-2024-110264","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,22]],"date-time":"2025-03-22T19:00:53Z","timestamp":1742670053000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/jme.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/jme-2024-110264"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,13]]},"references-count":8,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,23]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,2]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/jme-2024-110264"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/jme-2024-110264","relation":{},"ISSN":["0306-6800","1473-4257"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"0306-6800"},{"type":"electronic","value":"1473-4257"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,13]]}}}