Hospital leaders are “more worried” about the upcoming junior doctors’ strike than any other strike, as they fear the repercussions will be significant and affect patient safety. the alarmed health chief said in a statement.
Dr Layla McKay, political director for the NHS Confederation, says the young doctors’ strike, which starts in England on Tuesday and lasts four days, will have a deeper and more lasting impact as it takes place in the run-up to Easter. She added that health care leaders are deeply concerned about the impact on patient safety.
“During the latest young doctors strike we saw around 175,000 appointments and operations had to be postponed,” she told BBC Radio 4. Today Program.
“We’re looking at about a quarter of a million due to this lawsuit – so that’s a huge impact on patients across the country. This is also a big administrative problem.
“What we’re hearing from our members, who are the health leaders in the system, is that they are more concerned about this strike than any other strike.
“They believe that the consequences will be so significant that they are likely to affect the safety of patients, and this is a major concern for any healthcare leader.”
The junior doctors’ strike starts on Tuesday and lasts for four days. The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling for a 35 percent pay rise to make up for 15 years of lagging behind inflation.
The government has said there will be no negotiations with the junior doctors unless they end their four-day strike, and there are currently no signs of progress in resolving the dispute.
Dr. McKay says the strike is further complicated by the fact that it occurs during the Easter period, when it is harder for hospital bosses to take shelter.
“Because these four days are marked on either side of the Easter weekend and other holidays, the outage will last 10 or 11 days,” she said.
“What we expect is really a reduction in the capacity of the healthcare system as these young doctors have left.
“The number one priority for healthcare leaders is trying to get coverage for this, and this has been the focus of attention over the past few weeks.
“But at this particular time of year, it’s especially hard to get that kind of coverage.”
Dr McKay says other actions being taken by health leaders during this challenging time are to reduce demand in hospitals, which will cause patients to delay appointments and procedures.
“This is a real problem and another solution is to reduce demand in hospitals so they can really focus on the most urgent and life-threatening cases and make sure there are enough places,” she explains.
“It really happens because of such problems. Health care was discontinued for many years after the pandemic, long before the pandemic.
“On top of that, we’ve had this difficult winter, we’ve had Covid, we’ve had the flu, and we’ve had strikes by various people in and out of the Ministry of Health throughout this season.”
Trainee doctors say the strike could be stopped if the government makes a “credible offer” to show it’s serious about wages.
The union is calling on Health Secretary Steve Barclay to meet with representatives over public holiday weekends to try to resolve the issue.
Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-director of the Young Physicians Committee at BMA, said: “Physicians like me have faced a real pay cut of more than 26 percent over the past 15 years.
“We just want to know that Mr. Barclay is serious about us and at this stage that would be a credible offer.”
However, he stressed that the 5% offer is inconvenient for their members and not even a convenient starting point.
In response to the government’s claim that the average junior doctor earns just over £55,000 and that this year’s salary increase would take it to over £56,000, Dr Trivedi: “Doctors are doing well at the same time that and other people in this country, they can work up to 48 hours a week on a contract basis, and many doctors in training also work, often for free.
“We have doctors who, after five to six years of medical training, are earning £14 an hour, having accumulated a debt of £80,000 to £100,000.”
He added that with young doctors starting at around £14 an hour and being treated the same as they are in the NHS, “it’s no wonder people are being pushed out” and doctors are leaving the NHS.
“Physicians are leaving the NHS to go to places like Australia, New Zealand and Canada, or leaving healthcare altogether,” he said. “We have to stop this.
“Now we refuse patients due to underfunding and underfunding of the system. After all, the staff deserves more, as do the patients.”
The Department of Health said it is working with NHS England to create contingency plans to protect patient safety and will prioritize resources to protect emergency care, intensive care, neonatal care and injuries.
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.