Health leaders warned on Monday that a four-day strike by junior doctors in England would be “the most industrialized strike in NHS history”, with a senior minister accusing the UK’s largest medical union of maintaining a “hard line” in its negotiations.
Junior doctors from the British Medical Association will start a new wave of industrial strike on Tuesday morning, as they seek to secure a pay rise of around 35 per cent.
The union argued that since 2008-2009, medical workers have suffered a real pay cut of more than 25 percent.
The strikes are the latest in a long-running dispute between public sector unions and the government across Britain, and come three days after strikes by junior doctors in March.
On Monday, more than 1,000 passport service workers began a five-week strike across the UK. Meanwhile, more strikes in education are feared after teaching unions rejected the government’s offer of a 4.5 per cent wage increase and a one-off £1,000 payment.
Professor Sir Stephen Boyce, the national medical director for NHS England, said that while the service was “widely preparing” for strikes, “managing the extra pressure” was becoming more difficult.
“This is set to be the most disruptive industrial action in the history of the NHS, and strikes tomorrow will bring enormous stress, coming against the backdrop of a long, challenging weekend for staff and services,” Boyce said. “Emergency, urgent and critical care will be prioritized.”
write in The Sunday TelegraphHealth Minister Steve Barclay said the wage demands made by the BMA were “widely outside the scope of wage settlements in other parts of the public sector”.
Last month, the health unions Unison, the Royal College of Nursing and the GMB urged their members to support the government’s offer of wages with a one-off bonus and a 5 per cent flat pay increase for the 2023-24 financial year.
“Unfortunately, the BMA’s junior physician leaders’ decision to maintain an unrealistic stance meant that we were unable to advance the talks,” Barclay wrote. “They seem intent on maintaining a hardline stance rather than working with the government and the NHS management to meet the best interests of their members and patients.”
The basic salary for junior doctors can range from £29,384 for those who graduated directly from medical school to £58,398 for those with more experience or specialisation, according to NHS And BMA estimates. Junior doctors account for about half of all doctors working in the NHS.
The health secretary warned the strikes, which coincide with school holidays, Ramadan and the Easter holidays, would pose a “huge risk to patient safety”, echoing comments by senior NHS officials who are preparing for severe delays in inpatient treatment.
A three-day strike by junior doctors in March led to more than 175,000 patient appointments and procedures being canceled or postponed, piling pressure on the health service as it tries to clear a backlog of about 7 million patients.
The NHS union has estimated that up to 250,000 operations and appointments could be canceled or delayed as a result of the four-day strike.
Patients have been urged to continue using 999 and A&E for life-threatening conditions but to use NHS 111 online, pharmacies and GPs for non-urgent issues.
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