Trainee doctors in England voted to strike after months of negotiations over wages and working conditions.
The move would throw the NHS into even more chaos and put even more pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over the ongoing wage dispute.
Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming strike.
When does a doctor’s assistant go on strike?
Dates have not yet been confirmed, but the strike is expected to take place in mid-March.
Up to 47,600 medics will leave hospitals for 72 hours without emergency care next month after overwhelming support for union action. This marks a sharp escalation in the battle between NHS workers and the government over pay increases.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said this could overlap with other health unions.
BIA Vice Chairperson Dr. Emma Ranswick told the BBC. Breakfast that it is “possible” to coordinate with the strikes of other health unions, adding: “We will always work with other unions to ensure that our actions are always safe. And we will never put patients in danger.
“Coordinated action also makes sense for a number of other reasons. This makes trading more efficient. And we hope that this will bring the government to the negotiating table much sooner than we might otherwise expect.”
A small number of junior doctors in the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) have already announced that for the first time in the history of the union, they will go on strike over wages next month.
According to the union, 397 out of 531 eligible voters took part in the voting. Wednesday, March 15.
HCSA President Dr. Naru Narayanan said the BMA results should be a “wake-up call” for the government, urging them to “negotiate a way out of this crisis.”
Paramedics are announcing more strikes and nurses will have their biggest ever strike as they have been on strike nonstop for 48 hours since 6am March 1st.
For the first time, the Royal College of Nursing will include nurses working in emergency departments, intensive care units, oncology and other services previously excluded.
The BMA said almost every young doctor who voted to strike voted to strike, with a turnout of over 77 percent. Nearly 37,000 votes were cast, and 98 percent of the votes were in favor of the strike.
What are strikes about?
The BMA is aiming to restore wages to 2008 levels (a 26 percent increase) and says there has been “no meaningful cooperation” with the government in recent months. She has already announced that if the decision is positive, a 72-hour strike will be called. About 200,000 non-emergency appointments and surgeries are expected to be delayed.
Dr. Robert Lawrence and Dr. Vivek Trivedi, Co-Chair of the BMA Medical Students Committee, said: “This vote, without a doubt, shows the strength of feeling among the majority of UK medical students. We are frustrated, in desperation and anger, and we voted by the thousands to say, “For the sake of our profession, our patients, and our National Health Service, doctors don’t take this anymore.”
“The government is guilty and stands in quiet indifference while our members are forced to make this difficult decision. Since 2008, real wages have fallen by more than 26 percent. This year we were offered a crazy salary of 2 percent, which means that with inflation of more than 10 percent, we have been working for more than a month for nothing.
“In addition, deteriorating conditions mean more doctors are being poached away from the NHS in search of better paying medical careers and a better quality of life elsewhere. There is no doubt that this is a crisis, but it is the fault of the government, which has so far refused to have serious discussions with us about wages. The road to recovery must begin with ministers listening to us and paying us what we are worth.”
Doctor BMA. Ranswick told the BBC about this. Breakfast: “Young health workers in this country have faced a real cumulative pay cut of 26 percent since 2008.
“We have junior doctors making as little as £14 an hour and we want to eliminate this pay cut so staff stay on the NHS and we can give patients the care they deserve.
“There will be harassment from strikes.
“The system we use allows experienced colleagues – specialists and general practitioners – to cover emergency and critical care.
“However, hospitals should plan to cancel several non-emergency appointments and procedures to ensure the safety of care during strikes.
“Unfortunately, this is the only option we have.
“We have been warning this government since July that we would like to see pay action – we told them we were going to vote in October and they knew it would be a long time – [there has been] every chance of preventing the doctors from going on strike, but they chose not to.”
The BMA action is the latest strike to hit the NHS as workers’ living standards come under pressure from rising inflation.
What was the reaction?
Health Minister Maria Caulfield said the young doctors’ wage demands were “unrealistic” and said their strike would “put patients at risk”.
Ms Caulfield told the BBC. Breakfast: “We are absolutely concerned about the statement that junior doctors will not necessarily protect emergency rooms and intensive care units. This is really worrisome because these are really the sickest patients who need urgent help and care.
“My understanding from the BMA is that their current demand as to why they are on strike is a 26 percent pay rise, but that is unrealistic and not feasible.
“The strike with these demands on the table is unfair to patients – let’s sit down and discuss future payment arrangements and fix this, but it’s glaring and, most importantly, can’t cover emergency care as well as emergency care,” and guarantees ITU coverage. very, very difficult and puts patients at risk.”
NHS Foundation East Suffolk and North Essex CEO Nick Hulme also warned that most pre-care services will be canceled on strike days that have yet to be announced.
He told LBC radio: “This is clearly a major shift in union action, which now includes doctors, formerly clearly nurses and paramedics.
“So that means we will be able to cancel most of our (planned) selective deliveries.”
He added: “We won’t know exactly which doctors will come that day, they don’t have to tell us if they will strike or not, so it will be an hourly risk assessment. placing these physicians in our highest risk areas, which are likely to be 24/7 obstetrics, intensive care, emergency departments, intensive care, and others.
“But that means we can’t do most of our outpatients, or elective or elective surgeries.
“The challenges we face with supply backlogs and exceptionally long wait times for people currently for cancer diagnosis and treatment and other elective services will have a significant impact on already alarmingly long wait times.”
Mr Hume added: “We will be asking our non-strike consultants to act effectively in this Physician Assistant role and negotiate with them on how we can best support them in this.
“And once again (we will) ask the public to stay away from the ER unless you have a life-threatening condition, as of course the resources we have to take care of you in the ER are greatly reduced on strike days. ”
On Monday, NHS leaders asked the government to negotiate wages with unions.
Health Minister Steve Barclay said he was “deeply disappointed” by the BMA’s statement, but NHS providers – health fund officials – said the government could resolve the dispute by starting negotiations on current wage rates.
More than 140,000 appointments have already been rescheduled due to union action, according to NHS Providers, and that number is set to “significantly increase.”
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.