Junior doctors across Cambridgeshire begin 3 day strike

It's part of an ongoing dispute with the Government over pay and condition

Junior doctors strike
Author: Victoria HornagoldPublished 14th Jun 2023

Thousands of junior doctors across Cambridgeshire are walking out today as they begin a 3 day strike.

We're being warned it could cause "enormous" disruption before they return to work at 7am Saturday.

As a result, senior doctors and nurses will be drafted in to cover urgent and emergency care work usually undertaken by junior doctors, which will lead to other work being postponed.

A similar walkout by junior doctors in April saw 196,000 hospital appointments and pre-planned operations rescheduled.

Dr Daniel Zahedi who represents BMA junior doctors in the East of England, told us they've experienced an "over 30 percent pay cut".

He added: "We want our pay to keep up with inflation.

"My pay is £14 an hour with thousands of pounds of debt.

He says patients are "coming to harm" because wards are "understaffed and underfunded".

"The private sector alone has had a 7.2% pay rise in the last three months.

"There needs to be further negotiations, but the government needs to take our demands seriously".

NHS England called for people to do their best to protect themselves during warm weather, warning that the service in many parts of the country has faced high demand for urgent care services.

It urged people, particularly the elderly, to follow warm weather guidance such as trying to keep their homes cool by keeping their windows and curtains closed in the day and opening them at night when the temperature has gone down and checking the temperature of their rooms.

The Government says the strike is 'disappointing' and that their requests are 'unreasonable'.

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