Junior doctors in England to strike for five days in July - union


Reuters
Fri, 23 June 2023 

Junior doctors strike, in London

LONDON (Reuters) -Junior doctors in England plan to strike for five days in July, a union representing them said on Friday, calling it the "longest single period of industrial action" in the history of the state-run NHS.

The walkouts will take place from July 13, the British Medical Association (BMA) said in a statement.

"Even now the Government can avert our action by coming to the table with a credible offer on pay restoration," the BMA said.

Hundreds of thousands of appointments have been cancelled so far this year as junior doctors - qualified physicians who make up nearly half of the medical workforce - have been in dispute with the government in demand of better pay.

"These five days will be hugely disruptive for patients and put pressure on other NHS staff, we remain ready to continue talking at any point if strikes are called off," the health ministry said in a statement.

Britain has been hit by strikes in many other sectors as well, from transport and education to emergency services, as record-breaking inflation levels have pushed workers to seek pay hikes to cope with a cost-of-living crisis.

Separately, the RCN union, which represents nurses, is balloting its members for further strike action after rejecting the government's 5% pay rise offer.

(Reporting by Sarah Young, writing by Muvija M; editing by Alistair Smout)

Junior doctors to go on longest single strike in NHS history

Blathnaid Corless
Fri, June 23, 2023 

Junior doctors will strike over pay again next month - Guy Smallman/Getty Images

Junior doctors have voted to stage the longest strike in NHS history next month.

A five-day walkout will take place between Thursday July 13 and Tuesday July 18 in what is believed to be the longest single period of industrial action in the history of the health service, according to the British Medical Association.

The walkout by junior doctors could come days before consultants strike on July 20 and 21 if their ballot, which closes at the end of this month, is successful and there is no “credible pay offer” from the Government.

During the proposed strikes for July, consultants will provide “Christmas Day cover”, meaning they will continue to provide all emergency services but many routine services will be stopped.

More than 645,000 appointments and operations in England have been affected by recent NHS strikes.

The BMA is asking for a 35 per cent pay rise for junior doctors to make up for what it says is 15 years of real-term salary cuts.

Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, the co-chairs of the BMA junior doctors committee, said: “The NHS is one of this country’s proudest achievements, and it is shameful that we have a Government seemingly content to let it decline to the point of collapse with decades of real-terms pay cuts to doctors driving them away.

“With the 75th birthday of the NHS just days away, neglect of its workforce has left us with 7.4 million people on waiting lists for surgery and procedures, 8,500 unfilled doctors’ posts in hospitals, and doctors who can barely walk down the road without a foreign government tempting them to leave an NHS where they are paid £14 per hour for a country which will pay them properly.

“It has been almost a week since the last round of strikes finished, but not once have we heard from Rishi Sunak or Steve Barclay in terms of reopening negotiations since their collapse of our talks and cancelling all scheduled meetings a month ago.

“What better indication of how committed they are to ending this dispute could we have? As their refusal to even discuss pay restoration leads to continued disruption to the health service, more than four-fifths of junior doctors report finding their patients supportive – they understand the value of a fully staffed and resourced NHS.

“We are announcing the longest single walkout by doctors in the NHS’s history – but this is not a record that needs to go into the history books. Even now the Government can avert our action by coming to the table with a credible offer on pay restoration.

“Restoring pay can stem the flow of Australian job adverts in doctors’ social media feeds, and lead to a future 75 years of doctors being paid fairly, in a rebuilt workforce and NHS that this country can continue to be proud of.”

An advertisement trying to tempt junior doctors to live and work in Australia

Downing Street said the planned strike action was concerning.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It puts patient safety and our efforts to cut waiting lists at risk. It is obviously extremely disappointing.

“In the meeting the Government had with junior doctors, we made a fair and reasonable opening offer.

“We were discussing both pay and non-pay issues. But they chose to end the talks by announcing new strike dates.

“Obviously if they cancel the damaging and disruptive strikes and show willingness to move away from their starting positions and find a way forward, then we will be able to proceed with those discussions.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “It is hugely disappointing the BMA Junior Doctors Committee has declared further strike action in July. These five days will be hugely disruptive for patients and put pressure on other NHS staff.

“The government presented an opening offer and there were active discussions ongoing about a range of pay and non-pay measures to improve the working lives of junior doctors. However, the Junior Doctors Committee turned their back on negotiations by announcing further strikes.

“The government has been clear that strikes must be paused while talks take place, and we remain ready to continue talking at any point if strikes are called off and the Junior Doctors Committee show willingness to move significantly from their unreasonable pay demands.”

‘Ensure patient safety is maintained’

Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the announcement of the five-day strike was “hugely disappointing” and would have an impact on patient care.

“Leaders will be anxious about again having to find staff to cover another walkout, this time across five days, but will pull out all the stops to ensure patient safety is maintained,” he said.

“Leaders will be hopeful that the goodwill of consultants and other colleagues to provide cover has not dwindled, but will be increasingly concerned about the financial cost of these walkouts. One trust estimated the cost of April’s walkout to be around £500,000, so the cost of industrial action is stacking up.

“That’s to say nothing on how it affects patients, many of whom will face the prospect of having an operation of appointment cancelled or delayed.

“This is not only a worry to them but has potential health implications – a postponed operation can lead to complications further down the line, often resulting in patients seeking help from primary or acute care to help manage an issue that was wholly avoidable. Leaders will make every effort to keep disruption to a minimum.”

Mr Taylor said that “unfortunately, our previous warnings that repeated industrial action must not become business as usual is starting to be the harsh reality leaders and the NHS must face”, calling on the parties involved “to open a proper dialogue again and find solutions to this standoff as soon as possible”.