Four days of strikes could see HALF of doctors absent next week, medical chiefs warn
Senior clinicians have warned that up to half of England’s doctors could be absent next week during the four scheduled days of junior doctors’ strikes.
NHS officials insist that if the strikes continue from Tuesday, the NHS is likely to come under overwhelming pressure immediately after the Easter break.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, National Medical Director of NHS England, told The Times“There is no doubt that next week will be even more challenging for NHS services, with the pressures brought on by a bank holiday weekend coupled with four days of industrial action – where hospitals went without half their medical staff for 96 hours.”
The British Medical Association has insisted the 96-hour strike, which begins on Tuesday, could be averted if ministers make a “credible offer” to reduce the junior doctor’s salary to 2008 levels.
The BMA is seeking a 25% wage increase to make up for 15 years of below-inflation wage increases, which the government deemed unrealistic.
Medical chiefs warn that the loss of junior doctors from Thursday could “overwhelm” A&E services. Pictured here are young doctors who went on strike in London on March 14, 2023
On March 13, 2023, striking doctors gather outside Downing Street organized by the BMA
With nearly 30,000 absent during a strike last month, 175,000 appointments and surgeries were cancelled.
There are expected to be more than 250,000 cancellations next week. A doctor told the BBC that up to half of all planned treatments could be cancelled.
Junior doctors are doing well 40% of the medical staff.
A hospital chief also told the NHS Confederation that ‘basic patient safety will be compromised’, with emergency departments likely to be ‘totally overwhelmed’.
Sky reported that the impact of the strike will likely be felt for 11 days as less coverage is available over Easter, and then again the following weekend.
Dr. Layla McCay, policy director at the NHS Confederation, said health leaders were bracing for the ‘biggest strikes in a decade’, with ‘many aspects of patient care at the cutting edge’.
Leaders expect coverage available in March will not be next week due to the Easter holiday and pre-booked holiday arrangements.
According to the BMA websiteNHS junior doctors in England are striking this year to bring about a full wage recovery ‘to reverse the sharp fall’ since 2008/9.
They are also seeking a mechanism with the government to prevent future declines against the rising cost of living and inflation.
And they are trying to reform processes to ensure that wage reviews are recommended independently and fairly.
They state on their website: ‘The government continues to refuse to negotiate with the BMA to reinstate young doctors’ pay, leaving us with no choice but to call for a strike by NHS young doctors.’
A junior doctor holds a placard as she stands at a picket point outside St Thomas’ Hospital at Westminster in London, Monday, March 13, 2023
A conspicuous junior doctor holds up a sign outside the Leeds General Infirmary in Leeds, UK, March 13, 2023
Young doctors from the BMA union on their picket line at St. Thomas’ Hospital on March 15, 2023 in London
It was previously announced that the BMA had staged the strike between 07:00 on April 11 and 07:00 on April 15, after talks with ministers broke down.
Dr. Vivek Trivedi and Dr. Robert Laurenson, co-chairs of the BMA’s junior doctor committee, said they announced the new union action with “disappointment and great frustration.”
Health Secretary Steve Barclay told doctors to go away and “think” about how they wanted to proceed, saying further talks were futile until they were willing to compromise.