- Junior Doctors Launch Fifth Strike over Pay Dispute
- Impact of Strike on NHS Appointments: Over 835,000 Postponed Since December
- Struggles of Junior Doctors: Lost Pay and Continuing Industrial Action
In an ongoing dispute over pay, junior doctors have conducted a walkout for the fifth time this year. Since December, when industrial action began, nearly 835 000 appointments have been postponed.
Doctors who have been employed by the NHS for less than two weeks are among those going on strike this morning.
In an ongoing dispute over pay, junior physicians affiliated with the British Medical Association (BMA) are staging a four-day walkout beginning at 7 a.m. today.
As a result of a ruling by the High Court, the National Health Service (NHS) is unable to use temporary staff to replace striking employees, causing rising concerns over the impact of the strike.
Since December, when industrial action began, nearly 835 000 appointments have been postponed.
The NHS Confederation claims that the inconvenience is “masked” and that cancellations might double this estimate.
According to the report, many hospitals have ceased scheduling routine activities on potential strike days to avoid disrupting patients on waiting lists, and the action is impeding efforts to reduce the record backlog of care.
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, warned that the number of postponed appointments could approach one million as a result of strikes by junior physicians and consultants in August and a potential two-day strike by consultants in September.
“This will have a lasting impact on patients whose treatment has been delayed and on the already low morale of the staff,” he added.
Making space for rescheduled appointments may result in delays for those further down the waiting list.
NHS England reported 7.6 million patients awaiting treatment at the end of June, the largest amount since August 2007.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay stated, “Patients are enduring the brunt of the impact of continuous strikes across the NHS. And additional action by the BMA will result in the postponement of more appointments and procedures.
“Our award strikes a compromise between the need to control inflation and the importance of their work.
“My door is always open to explore ways to improve physician working circumstances, but this wage award is final. So I urge the BMA to immediately end its strikes.”
Junior physicians, according to the British Medical Association, have lost more than a quarter of their pay over the past 15 years because their salaries have not kept pace with inflation.
The government considered a 6% junior physician salary increase “fair and reasonable” in addition to a £1,250 increase.
Junior doctors have walked off wards five times this year and the NHS has experienced nine months of union action.
Some physicians who began working for the NHS on Wednesday will participate in the action.
Dr. Omolara Akinnawonu is one of the Foundation Year 1 physicians who began her position on August 2. She stated that many physicians struggle to make expenses meet when they first enter the medical field.
The 24-year-old said, “I don’t think many of us as students imagined that we would have to form picket lines. But I believe it’s necessary because it protects our rights now and in the future.”
“We graduated at a disadvantage, and to arrive as a doctor and not receive a fair salary is unfair.”
The strike is scheduled to terminate on Tuesday at 7 a.m.
