Why did thousands of doctors in England go on strike a week before the British general election? – Firstpost

As part of an ongoing dispute with the government over salaries and working conditions, thousands of junior doctors in England have gone on strike for the eleventh time. This has caused significant disruption to hospital care just days before the British general election.

The five-day strike began on Thursday and will continue until Tuesday, two days before the July 4 election. The strike highlights the ongoing problems of the National Health Service (NHS), a chronically underfunded public health system that is a major concern for voters.

Assistant doctors, who make up about half of the total medical staff and are crucial to care in hospitals and clinics, have been in dispute with the government since the end of 2022.

Why are the doctors on strike?

The British Medical Association (BMA) claims that their salaries have fallen by a quarter in the past 15 years and is demanding a 35 percent pay rise. Newly qualified doctors reportedly earn around £15 ($19) an hour, slightly more than the UK minimum wage of just over £10 an hour. However, salaries rise quickly after the first year.

Junior doctors received an average pay rise of almost 9 per cent in the last financial year, bringing the starting salary to over £32,000 and those nearing the end of their training currently receiving over £63,000.

This is just the basic salary; junior doctors, like other NHS staff, receive additional pay which can be worth 25 to 30 per cent more for things like inconvenient working hours and overtime. Junior doctors’ contracts allow them to work up to 48 hours a week, rather than the usual 40.

Did the strike have an impact on healthcare?

This latest strike follows a series of work stoppages, including a six-day strike in January, the longest in NHS history. These strikes forced hospitals to cancel tens of thousands of appointments and operations. The current strike is likely to cause widespread disruption to care, as junior doctors make up a significant proportion of the medical workforce.

NHS England expects disruption to be particularly severe over the next five days as heat-related health problems add to the pressure. The previous 10 strikes have already led to the cancellation of 1.4 million outpatient appointments and operations, costing the NHS £1.7 billion.

Dr Sumi Manirajan, Vice-Chairman of the BMA’s Resident Medical Officers Committee, highlighted the dire situation and said: AP“Doctors I trained under in London, some of the best in the country, have gone to New Zealand. And I actually ask myself, why don’t I do the same? I want to be valued for the work I do.”

She also highlighted the impact on patient care, noting that many patients have to wait over a year for routine procedures, causing them considerable pain and suffering.

How did the government react?

The Conservative government responded by saying it had granted junior doctors salary increases of between 8.1 and 10.3 percent last year, which it said was a generous agreement.

The government, however, claims that it cannot make a new salary offer in the pre-election period. Manirajan criticised the government’s election timing, knowing that the dispute is still unresolved.

The opposition Labour Party, which is leading in the polls, has signalled its willingness to talk. Labour leader Keir Starmer said that if elected he would start talks with junior doctors “from day one”. Wes Streeting, the British shadow health secretary, agreed and promised to negotiate a solution.

Dr Shivam Sharma, a junior doctor on the picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London, described the state of the British health service as “appalling”.

Speak with APPointing to the decline in standards, he said: “We used to have real standards in this country. Patients have to be seen in a hospital emergency room within four hours, now you’re lucky if they get seen within 12 hours. Last winter there were 500 preventable deaths a week. That’s like a Boeing plane full of patients crashing. That’s totally unacceptable.”

Does everyone agree with the strikes?

There is debate within the BMA about the timing and effectiveness of the strikes, with some senior politicians believing that a strike so close to the general election would be counterproductive and risk alienating potential Labour allies.

A senior BMA member said BBC“I, and none of the doctors I work with, can understand what the strike is trying to achieve. There is no government to negotiate with. And the opposition health minister has said that his top priority in office will be to correct this and has called on the (interns) to call off the strike.”

Despite these internal disagreements, the co-chairs of the BMA’s junior doctors’ committee, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, have said they are prepared to continue the strike if necessary. They have expressed their willingness to phase in pay restoration over a number of years, raising hopes that a solution may be within reach.

What did residents say?

Matthew Alexander, a radiology resident, expressed the feelings of many striking doctors to The guard: “I can’t wait to get back to work, get back to work. Nobody wants to be here, nobody wants to strike.”

Sarah Peters, a neurosurgery resident, added: “It’s hard. Just explaining everything to family members is hard and you know your colleagues are going to have a harder day at work because you’re not there. I didn’t get into this profession for that; I got into it to help people, but we have no choice but to strike. It’s sad that it’s come to this.”

The wider impact of the strike is significant, with many junior doctors considering leaving the NHS to pursue better opportunities abroad. Dr Tom Sharp, a junior doctor in Leeds, said: The guard“I think young doctors are fed up with the poor pay and working conditions, and that’s why so many of them are going to countries like New Zealand, where the pay and working conditions are much better.”

Emma Runswick, a junior doctor in Greater Manchester and deputy chair of the BMA Council, reported similar experiences, pointing out that her friends who had emigrated to New Zealand earned significantly more and did not face the same systemic problems.

She said: “We have to deal with the government we currently have, which is Rishi Sunak’s government. We have been demanding something credible from him for 20 months. If we don’t do something, our pay will continue to fall in real terms and our colleagues will continue to leave the country.”

With contributions from agencies

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