In England, young doctors went on a three-day strike over wages.
Patients have been warned there will be “significant disruption” to the NHS during one of the busiest periods of the year.
Trainee doctors, who make up about half of the NHS medical workforce, have begun a 72-hour strike. Today, December 20, 7 am..
Cheltenham Ambulance Service will temporarily close in the coming weeks due to industrial action at several sites and there are fears other ambulance departments could follow suit.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “The prospect of emergency departments being closed due to Rishi Sunak’s failure to end NHS strikes will send shivers down patients’ spines.”
“The Conservatives must now stop playing politics with our NHS, sit down with young doctors and agree to end these strikes.”
Why are trainee doctors on strike?
Junior doctors have quit amid a bitter dispute over pay.
Trainee doctors need a 35 per cent pay rise to make up for years of below-inflation pay rises, according to the British Medical Association (BMA). Junior doctors’ salaries actually fell by 26 percent between 2008 and 2022 due to inflation, according to the report.
To compensate for the 26 percent loss, a 35 percent increase in current salaries would be required.
In September the government introduced an 8.8 per cent increase in average junior doctors’ pay plus a flat rate of £1,250, which was said to be the final offer.
A new five-week round of discussions resulted in a proposed increase of 3 percent, above the average increase of 8.8 percent.
However, the BMA said the money was being distributed unevenly across different levels of doctors and “continues to mean pay cuts for many doctors”.
Co-Chairman of the BMA Medical Committee, Dr. Robert Lawrenson called the proposal “wholly inadequate.”
He told LBC radio: “After five weeks of negotiations, not enough progress had been made and every member of our committee voted unanimously for further industrial action as the 3 per cent offer was completely insufficient to actually begin to address the pay cuts.” Percent. that doctors have had to deal with over the past fifteen years.
“All we’re aiming for is getting that 26 per cent back, so we’re back to a zero per cent change from 2008, which is like a doctor starting at £21 an hour.
“We’re looking at something that would actually start with restoring doctors’ pay and pave the way for full restoration of pay – and I want to be clear: We’re not asking for all of this at once.”
What did the government say about the strikes?
On Tuesday, Health Minister Victoria Atkins said the government would “immediately seek to return to the negotiating table” if junior doctors’ strikes were called off.
Ministers said talks could not take place until the strikes were called off.
On Wednesday Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride told LBC radio: “What young doctors need to do now – they are the ones who left the negotiating table – is get back to the negotiating table.”
“What they really shouldn’t do is put people in these very difficult situations, at this very difficult time for the NHS, when the pressure is much greater.
“They left, we opened the door wide to continue these discussions.
“We’ve made some progress, but now they really need to get back to the negotiating table. It’s a shame that they did what they did.”
When do trainee doctors go on strike?
The BMA said junior doctors were striking across the aisle four days in Decemberand one more six days in January.
The first stage begins at Wednesday, December 20, at 7:00. and ends at Saturday, December 23, at 7:00.
Then the doctors go on strike again Wednesday, January 3, 7 am. before Tuesday, January 9, 7 am.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.