The UK government against junior doctors – podcast
For months, doctors in England have been embroiled in industrial action over pay and conditions – arguing the future of the NHS is at stake. Talks with the government stalled, with ministers insisting that the 35% demanded was impossible.
Junior doctors such as Sumi Manirajan say colleagues are leaving the profession – and even the country – because of overwork and underpayment. She explains what it’s like to have to take over a busy emergency department on a night shift and why the £15 an hour her salary says isn’t enough.
The latest six-day strike was the longest sustained strike in the history of the NHS, with thousands of patient appointments having to be rescheduled, The Guardian’s health policy editor explains. Dennis Campbell. To keep the system working, senior doctors had to take over the services of their junior colleagues.
Hospitals reported critical incidents, and Nosheen Iqbal hears that a row broke out during the strike between the British Medical Association, which represents doctors, and NHS England, as striking trainee doctors were asked to return as emergency cover. Now doctors are preparing to vote again on industrial action. How can the situation be resolved and how will the NHS cope with more disruption?
Photo: Ben Birchall/PA