Young doctors in England should call off their upcoming strike if major political parties promise to reopen talks as a priority after the general election, health leaders say.
The NHS Confederation accused medics of causing ‘real consternation’ with their strike plans and said the move looks more like a publicity stunt than a constructive act aimed at finding a solution to their pay dispute.
It called on politicians and the British Medical Association to reach a compromise in a bid to avoid the disruptive strike.
The NHS Confederation, which represents healthcare organisations, said the main parties must pledge to reopen negotiations with trainee doctors within 10 days of the formation of a new government.
In return, trainee doctors should call off the strike, it added.
The NHS Confederation called on politicians and the British Medical Association to reach a compromise
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Junior doctors in England are preparing for a full strike for five days, starting at 7am on June 27.
The strike ends just two days before voters go to the polls.
When the union announced the strike, it said that if Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a “concrete commitment to restore doctors’ wages” during his campaign, “which is acceptable to the BMA’s junior doctors committee, there would be no need for strikes ‘.
In May, the government and the BMA began mediated talks to try to resolve the dispute.
But they failed to reach an agreement before completing parliamentary business ahead of the election.
The latest strike by trainee doctors, from February 24 to 28 this year, led to 91,048 appointments, operations and procedures being postponed.
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
Junior doctors in England are preparing for a full strike for five days, starting at 7am on June 27. The strike will end just two days before voters go to the polls.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents healthcare organisations, said: ‘The conduct of the BMA Junior Doctor Committee (JDC) in calling these strikes because the mediation process between them and the Sunak government had to be suspended due to the The elections have caused real consternation.
‘Holding strikes in the middle of an election campaign can be an effective way to gain publicity, but no political party is in a position to bring these long-running disputes to an end until a new government is formed.
‘The BMA JDC must find a meaningful compromise with whoever forms the next government, because of the huge impact these strikes are having on the NHS and especially on patients.’
He said the strikes leave patients “waiting for their treatments to be rescheduled, often in pain and discomfort and sometimes with worse outcomes.”
Mr Taylor added: ‘The last thing health leaders and their teams want is more disruption as they work hard to improve performance and reduce waiting lists.
‘Some good progress has been made after a very difficult winter, but this industrial action threatens to throw that off course.
‘We urge politicians of all stripes – who may have friends, family or constituents dependent on the NHS – to pledge to open talks with the BMA within ten days of taking office and in return we call on the BMA to respond by stopping this planned event. disruption.
“If they can compromise, this will be at least one positive outcome from this election campaign.”
The NHS Confederation has said that even if strikes are not called off, parties must pledge to formally engage with the BMA within the first 10 days of forming a new government.
Around 1.5 million appointments have been postponed since the current wave of industrial action in the NHS in England began in December 2022, with the service seeing many staff groups on the picket lines, including paramedics, consultants, nurses and physiotherapists.
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Mr Sunak has blamed the move on his government’s inability to significantly reduce waiting times.
Dr. Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairs of the BMA junior doctors committee, accused the NHS Confederation of having ‘little understanding’ of what is needed to resolve the dispute.
They added: “Matthew Taylor is wrong when he says we called this strike because pre-election talks were suspended. We have called a strike because the government has repeatedly failed to make a credible offer.
“Let’s be clear: these strikes can now be stopped by the Prime Minister making a public commitment to restore doctors’ wages that we find credible.
“While we would welcome recognition by all parties of the need to resolve physician wage erosion, after twenty months of this dispute, the promise of further talks that go nowhere and unnecessarily prolong this dispute will not be enough for physicians in course.’