Junior doctors will strike again ahead of the general election, after six days of industrial action aimed at bringing hospitals to a standstill.
Thousands of doctors demanding pay increases of up to 35 percent will walk out from June 27 to July 2.
British Medical Association (BMA) bosses claimed the government had failed to make a credible offer and that trainee doctors were ‘fed up and running out of patience’.
More than a million appointments and operations have been canceled due to the never-ending wave of NHS strikes that started in 2022.
Thousands of doctors demanding pay increases of up to 35 percent will walk out from June 27 to July 2. Bosses at the British Medical Association (BMA) claimed the government had failed to make a credible offer and that trainee doctors were ‘fed up and running out of patience’. ‘. Trainee doctors are pictured on the picket line outside St Thomas Hospital in London during strike action in January
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The BMA claims his demands are for ‘pay recovery’ as previous NHS salary increases for doctors since 2008 have failed to keep pace with inflation.
The strikes will begin from 7 a.m. on June 27 to 7 a.m. on July 2 – just two days before the July 4 elections – meaning they will last a total of six days.
It also marks the eleventh strike by the medics after their first strike in March 2023.
The committee for doctors in training had been in discussions with the government for three months to reach an agreement.
But talk have failed despite both sides confirming last month that they had engaged a mediator to try to ‘break the impasse’.
In a joint statement, the commission’s co-chairs, Dr. Robert Laurenson and Dr. Vivek Trivedi, said the action could have been avoided if the government had agreed to come to the negotiating table.
BMA Doctors Committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: ‘We have made it clear to the government that we would strike unless discussions ended in a credible pay offer.
‘For more than 18 months we have been asking Rishi Sunak to come forward with proposals to restore the pay that junior doctors have lost over the last 15 years – which amounts to more than a quarter in real terms.
‘When we started mediating with the government this month, we did so under the assumption that we had a functioning government that would soon make an offer.
‘It is clear that there will be no offer now. Junior doctors are fed up and have run out of patience.’
They added: ‘Even at this late stage, Mr Sunak has the opportunity to show he cares about the NHS and its workers.
“It’s finally time for him to make a concrete commitment to restore doctors’ wages.”
‘If he makes such a public commitment during this campaign that is acceptable to the BMA’s junior doctors’ committee, then there will be no need for any more strikes.’
The new wave of strike action comes four months after the last ‘walk-out’ by young doctors.
Thousands took to the picket lines for five days of industrial action that caused massive disruption in the NHS.
While previous strikes have led to the cancellation of elective care, emergency services such as emergency rooms have remained open.
Officials have urged Britons in need of urgent medical care to still seek help if necessary.
Junior doctors in their first year now have a basic salary of £32,300, while those with three years’ experience earn £43,900. The oldest earn £63,100.
Ministers previously offered trainee doctors an average pay increase of 8.8 percent for the 2023/2024 financial year.
However, the increase was greater for first-year doctors, who received a 10.3 percent boost.
Ministers emphasized that this was the final offer. But Ms Atkins offered doctors an additional 3 percent on top of this increase.
Junior doctors in their first year now have a basic salary of £32,300, while those with three years’ experience earn £43,900. The oldest earn £63,100
But the union said at the time that this improved amount was still “completely insufficient.”
In April, consultants in England accepted an offer from the government, drawing a line in a labor dispute that has dragged on for more than a year.
It comes as the CEO and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), Professor Pat Cullen, also today announced she had stepped down after eight years in her role to seek election to Parliament.
The Northern Irish nurse is hoping to be nominated as a Sinn Féin candidate for the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency.
She said: ‘This was the hardest decision to make, and we have achieved so much in three very different and difficult years.
‘I hope my legacy here will be that I have helped the nursing profession use its voice and campaign for change, for ourselves and for patients. I owe the RCN members a lot of gratitude.’
The RCN held eight days of strike action in 2022 and 2023.