By Peter Makossah
Buoyed by the mixed feelings of being overworked, not appreciated, and undervalued through inadequate pay, junior doctors across England Tuesday went full throttle into a four-day strike in a dispute over remuneration package, which has worsened, posing the threat of huge disruption to the National Health Service (NHS) and causing panic and anxiety to those that are ill.
As a result of this planned industrial action, which is expected to cause a major impact on the country’s hospitals, mental health services, GP practices and other NHS services, by members of the British Medical Association (BMA) close to 350,000 patients’ appointments, including operations, has be cancelled.
In the longest stoppage of the wave of unrest, junior doctors will mount picket lines outside hospitals from 07:00 am on Tuesday to Saturday morning at 07:00 pm.
Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association HCSA are taking part in the strike action, as well as some doctors who are not part of a union.
Dr. Melissa Ryan, of Nottingham, a British Medical Association picket supervisor for the strike and works as a paediatric trainee at Queen’s Medical Centre said: “We are basically coming out for our second strike as we haven’t been able to reach an agreement of our pay with the Government.”
Dr. Ryan, who is one of around 30 doctors that have been showing their support for the strike outside of the Queens Medical hospital on Tuesday said it is up to the government to honour the demands.
“The cost of living has sky-rocketed and just like everyone else we are struggling. All we are asking is a fair pay as we sacrifice a lot,” she said.
The strikes have seen nurses, ambulance crews and other health workers take action since last year.
Patrick James, 52, of Rivergreen Road in Clifton, a patient who has had his knee surgery appointment cancelled, but still went to the hospital to try his luck said: “This is bad for people like me as I am paying the price here. I have struggled to get this appointment and I was so happy when I finally got it and for only this to happen.”
He said: “Let the government reach an agreement with the doctors as possible because people’s lives are at stake here. I understand where the doctors are coming from, they are frustrated and there has to be a way to sort this out.”
Senior doctors and Managers have said patient care is “on a knife edge” because of the strike, while NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor said the number of appointments cancelled, previously suggested to be 250,000, was likely to rise by another 100,000.
The strikes centre around a pay row between the BMA and government, with the union claiming junior doctors in England have seen 26% real terms pay cut since 2008/09 because pay rises have been below inflation.
The union has asked for a full pay restoration that the government said would amount to a 35% pay rise – which ministers have said is unaffordable.
BMA officials said the pay issue is making it harder to recruit and retain junior doctors, with members previously walking out for three days in March.
The NHS England boss said staff will be asked to prioritise emergency and urgent care over some routine appointments and procedures to ensure safe care for those in life-threatening situations.
NHS England national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said the strikes will put “immense pressures” on staff and services.
The health body said appointments and operations will only be cancelled “where unavoidable” and patients will be offered alternative dates as soon as possible.
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “It is extremely disappointing the BMA has called strike action for four consecutive days.
“Not only will the walkouts risk patient safety, but they have also been timed to maximise disruption after the Easter break.
“I hoped to begin formal pay negotiations with the BMA last month but its demand for a 35% pay rise is unreasonable – it would result in some junior doctors receiving a pay rise of over £20,000.
“If the BMA is willing to move significantly from this position and cancel strikes, we can resume confidential talks and find a way forward, as we have done with other unions.
“People should attend appointments unless told otherwise by the NHS, continue to call 999 in a life-threatening emergency and use NHS 111 online services for non-urgent health needs.”
The BMA has previously said it was willing to enter talks with Barclay and suspend strikes if members were presented with a “credible” pay offer “to resolve 15 years of pay erosion”.
Taylor, head of the NHS Confederation which is a membership organisation that represents healthcare bodies in the UK, said the likely impact of the strike is “heartbreaking” and called on both sides to end their “battle of rhetoric”.
He said there is “no question” this strike will be more disruptive than the 72-hour walkouts by NHS staff last month, which led to 175,000 cancelled appointments.
Speaking about pay negotiations which would avoid the action, Taylor told BBC Breakfast on Monday: “It’s depressing that there seems to be no movement at all from the two sides of this dispute over the last few days.
“We should consider asking the government and the trade unions to call in Acas, the conciliation service, to provide some basis for negotiations, because if anything the positions seem to have hardened over the last couple of days.”
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “The junior doctors’ strike this week will cause huge disruption to patient care.
“Where is the Prime Minister and why hasn’t he tried to stop it?
“Rishi Sunak says he ‘wouldn’t want to get in the middle of’ NHS pay disputes.
“Patients are crying out for leadership, but instead they are getting weakness.”
BMA junior doctor committee co-chairman Dr Vivek Trivedi said: “We were knocking on the Health Secretary’s door, asking to meet with him to negotiate a settlement to this dispute, long before the current strike got underway.
“We have been in a formal dispute since October. He refused to respond and meet us until we had a strike ballot result. He has had months to put a credible offer on the table and avert industrial action, so for him to say, ‘It’s disappointing,’ is at best disingenuous.
“We have always maintained our aim is for full pay restoration – to reverse the more than 26% real-terms pay cuts Mr Barclay’s government have imposed on us over the past 15 years, putting starting salaries up by just £5 per hour to £19.
“We have always maintained we are willing to negotiate on how to achieve pay restoration, so for Mr Barclay to suggest we had any preconditions is yet again disingenuous.
“The reality is that the Health Secretary has had every opportunity to bring an end to the dispute. His decision to refuse to table a credible offer – indeed he has not tabled a single offer so far – means that this action is solely due to this government’s repeated inaction.
“We would still be willing to suspend strike action this week if the Secretary of State makes a credible offer that can be the basis of negotiation.”
“Where is the Prime Minister and why hasn’t he tried to stop it?”
Wes Streeting
Shadow Health Secretary
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