Up to a quarter of a million appointments could be postponed in the longest hiatus of the UK’s wave of unrest.
Doctors in training across England have launched a four-day strike over wages likely to cause an unprecedented disruption to healthcare, postponing up to a quarter of a million appointments.
Doctors set up picket lines outside hospitals from 7am on Tuesday to run until Saturday morning in the longest respite from the wave of unrest, which has seen nurses, paramedics and other health workers spring into action since last year.
Tens of thousands of junior doctors — licensed physicians who make up nearly half of the medical workforce — are striking for wage increases more in line with inflation in the latest disruption to hit the state-funded National Health Service (NHS).
The British Medical Association (BMA), the trade union representing doctors, is seeking a 35 per cent pay rise, arguing that members have suffered a 26 per cent real wage cut in 15 years.
Tuesday’s strike followed a three-day doctors’ strike last month.
“This next round of strikes will bring unprecedented levels of disruption, and we are deeply concerned about the potential severity of the impact on patients and services across the country,” said NHS England National Medical Director Stephen Powis.
He said there will be “significantly more” cancellations in operations and procedures this time than the 175,000 rescheduled during the previous strike, but added that the NHS was working to ensure emergency services remain intact.
“We have also asked (hospitals) to reschedule procedures and outpatients as soon as possible, but it will take weeks to recover from this,” Powis told BBC Radio.
The BMA has said strikes by junior doctors, some of whom are highly experienced, could be stopped if Health Secretary Steve Barclay makes a credible wage proposal.
“Not only do the strikes jeopardize patient safety, but they are timed to maximize disruption after the Easter holiday,” Barclay said in a statement.
He says the BMA’s demands are unreasonable and would mean an increase of more than £20,000 ($24,840) for some doctors.
The health secretary said the “unrealistic” demand had led to a breakdown in talks.
“This requirement is far out of step with pay arrangements in other parts of the public sector at a time of significant economic strain on our country,” Barclay wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.
The BMA has previously said it was willing to enter talks with Barclay and suspend strikes if members were given a “credible” wage offer “to fix 15 years of wage erosion”.
“We knocked on the health secretary’s door and asked to meet with him to negotiate a settlement of this dispute long before the current strike started,” said Dr.
“We have been involved in a formal dispute since October. He refused to respond and to meet with us until we had a strike vote. He’s had months to come up with a credible offer and stave off union action, so to say “It’s disappointing” is insincere at best.
“We are still prepared to suspend the strike this week if the secretary of state makes a credible offer that can form the basis for negotiations.”
The strike is the latest to involve NHS staff, following strikes by nurses, paramedics and others demanding increases that better reflect annual inflation of more than 10 per cent.
The UK has been hit by strikes across broad parts of the economy, with workers grappling with a cost-of-living crisis driven by double-digit inflation.