Trainee doctors have been accused of putting ‘politics before patient safety’ as strikes have been blamed for an increase in deaths.
New figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed that deaths increased by 11 per cent during the British Medical Association’s first strike over wages.
The shocking figures came as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt vowed not to budge on wage increases yesterday. He said the strike action had caused a ‘short-term hit’ and was also ‘incredibly regrettable’ for patients trying to use the NHS.
Between March 13 and 15, doctors in training went on strike for three days, meaning more than 175,000 appointments and operations were cancelled.
In the week of the strike and in the following seven days, there were 22,571 deaths, 11.1 percent more than average.
New figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed that deaths increased by 11 per cent during the British Medical Association’s first strike over wages. Pictured: Young doctors in their picket line at Whittington Hospital in London on April 13
The shocking numbers came as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt (pictured) vowed not to give in to wage increases yesterday. He said the strike action had caused a ‘short-term hit’ and was also ‘incredibly regrettable’ for patients trying to use the NHS
A government source told The Telegraph: “The militant leaders of the BMA’s committee on young doctors seem willing to put politics before patient safety.”
Tory MP for Peterborough Paul Bristow, who sits on the health committee, told the same paper: ‘These statistics are alarming. It certainly makes sense that if the NHS offers fewer services and reacts less quickly to union action, patients will suffer and there could be more deaths.’
Ahead of the strike, cardiologist Dr Richard Grocott-Mason told The Guardian: ‘I think it is only right to warn that some patients will inevitably die because of the cumulative impact of delaying hundreds on the waiting list. [for surgery].’
However, the chair of the BMA board, Professor Philip Banfield, said: ‘Without subjecting this data to rigorous validation and academic study, it is impossible to say what impact the first round of strikes may or may not have had on the number of deaths.’
The British Medical Association orchestrated the strikes in a bid for a 35 percent pay rise for junior doctors. Pictured: NHS junior doctors on strike on the picket line outside St. Thomas’s Hospital in London on April 12
The BMA has shut down all services, such as A&E departments, to be exempt from the mass strike.
Yesterday Chancellor Jeremy Hunt vowed not to give in to strikers’ wage demands, even as new figures showed that union action was hampering Britain’s economic recovery.
GDP flattened in February as teachers’ and civil servants’ strikes saw growth grind to a halt.
Without them, the economy would have grown, thanks to great performances for other parts of the economy, such as retail and construction.
The chancellor faces a difficult choice between continuing the damaging strikes and giving in to wage demands, which could further fuel “dangerously high” inflation, which has climbed above 10 percent for six months.
Speaking at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC, the Chancellor said: “There would be a much longer and damaging growth effect if we tried to settle these strikes with the rewards. [asked for].’
He said this would fuel so-called “core inflation” – a measure that excludes volatile factors such as food and energy and is closely watched by economists for signs of temporary price spikes taking hold.
He added that demands for such a large wage increase were “very difficult to justify given the current economic pressures.”
He said talks with the unions would probably not be “fruitful” until bosses were persuaded about such high demands.
“We fully understand how people have seen their cost of living rise faster than their wages,” Mr Hunt said. “It makes people very angry. And inflation is the source of that anger.
The worst possible thing for growth is inflation. It means we have higher interest rates. Then you have a contraction in purchasing power, which makes it very, very difficult to grow.
“The worst possible thing would be to take measures that anchor high inflation.”
The UK economy defied doomsday scenarios to avoid a recession at the end of last year and there are signs that the start of the year was also more positive than many feared.
Yesterday’s disappointing data also contained a bright spot as the ONS reviewed the economy’s performance over previous months.
That means it is now in a better position than previously thought, with GDP back above pre-pandemic levels.
It left Mr Hunt insisting that the outlook was ‘better than expected’ and that the UK will avoid a recession.
He also rejected this week’s latest IMF forecast that the UK will shrink by 0.3 percent this year, making it the weakest performing G7 country.
Mr Hunt said: ‘The IMF has long fallen short of its forecasts for the UK economy.’
Yesterday’s ONS data showed that one in nine companies were directly or indirectly affected by industrial action, with 30 percent of them reporting that they were unable to function fully as a result.
Junior doctors on the picket line outside the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, on April 12
Young doctors took to picket lines (pictured, juniors striking outside University College Hospital, London) this week as part of a strike in hopes of getting a 35 per cent pay rise
It meant that instead of growing at 0.1 percent as predicted by economists, the UK experienced zero growth in February, putting the brakes on after GDP rose 0.4 percent in January.
Kitty Ussher, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said that despite the economic slowdown, the latest GDP figures showed “encouraging signs.”
“Consumer-focused sectors – particularly retail – grew in the month despite bearing the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis, and the construction sector performed strongly,” she said.
“Without the public sector industrial action, the economy in general would have grown.” Central to the outlook for the coming months is the hope that inflation will start to fall soon.
The most recent signs are not promising as it rose to 10.4 percent in February. March inflation numbers are expected next week.
Speaking yesterday, Huw Pill, chief economist of the Bank of England, said the latest GDP figures were “somewhat disappointing” and that – while he still expects inflation to fall in the coming months – the path “could be bumpier” than we expect’.
Another inflationary challenge has been an exodus of people of working age from the labor market since the pandemic – something the Chancellor has sought to address by expanding free childcare and increasing pension benefits.
Yesterday’s figures from the OECD illustrated the scale of the problem, showing that the UK’s working population shrank by more than any other G7 country from pre-pandemic levels in 2019 to the end of last year, from 79.5 per cent to 78.6 per cent. percent of the working population.
Another set of data pointed to more difficult times for UK homebuyers, who are already struggling with interest rates rising sharply.
Figures from the Bank of England showed that lenders expect to rein in mortgage lending in the coming quarter.