Junior doctor's strike in Suffolk, joining the country in action in the ‘longest in NHS history’
It's the first of five days of industrial action
Junior doctors in Suffolk are joining others across England today, starting a five-day strike today, thought to be the longest walkout in the history of the NHS
The strikes begin at 7am and are due to continue until 7am on Tuesday as members of the BMA in England continue their dispute over pay.
Protestors will attend picket lines at hospitals and medical centres around the country.
Calls for negotiations to continue
BMA leaders urged the Government to return to the negotiating table in a bid to resolve the long-running row, which has already led to a series of strikes and thousands of cancelled operations and consultations.
BMA leaders Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: “Today marks the start of the longest single walkout by doctors in the NHS’s history, but this is still not a record that needs to go into the history books.
“We can call this strike off today if the UK Government will simply follow the example of the government in Scotland and drop their nonsensical precondition of not talking whilst strikes are announced and produce an offer which is credible to the doctors they are speaking with.
“The pay offer on the table to junior doctors in Scotland and how it was reached throws into sharp relief the obstinate approach being taken by the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary, Steve Barclay.
“The Health Secretary has said there can be no talks while strikes are planned – Scotland has proved him wrong. He said above 5% wasn’t realistic – Scotland proved him wrong. He refused to even acknowledge the concept of pay restoration – Scotland proved this is not only possible but essential.”
Dr Daniel Zahedi is is the Eastern Representative for the BMA. He said: "We are at a really critical point now and something needs to change.
"We began the dispute last year and it's taken several strikes to get the Government to the table and unfortunately this has dragged out, we need to get the Government to listen to put an end to this."
When asked about those who will suffer about the disruption, Dr Zahedi said: "There is already so much disruption to patients, to healthcare, as it is. There's over 7.4 million on the waiting list.
"We are regularly telling patients that their operations, their scans are being delayed, again and again. I recognise that this is a further disruption, however if we continue as things are going now, nothing's going to improve."
Industrial action is "taking it's toll" on the NHS
NHS Providers has urged both sides to resume talks in a bid to head off more industrial action.
Deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery said: “The impact of these disputes is fraying the fabric of the NHS, held together by a unique sense of commitment and shared endeavour across the workforce that has served it so well over so many years. We lose that at our peril.
“The disruption for many thousands of patients and the potential harm of delaying their treatment is a huge and growing risk for the NHS to manage. Trusts will hardly have time to draw breath after a five-day walkout by junior doctors before consultants strike for two days, followed by a two-day strike by radiographers.
“Trusts will continue to do everything they can to limit disruption and keep patients safe but that’s getting harder and more expensive with every strike as the cost of hiring cover grows, and with staff dissatisfaction increasing as disputes remain unresolved.
“Eight consecutive months of industrial action across the NHS are taking their toll not just on patients, with more than 651,000 routine procedures and appointments forced to be rescheduled, but on already overstretched services – hampering efforts to cut waiting lists.”
Strikes still supported by the wider public
Polling by YouGov showed that public support for strikes has remained consistent since the beginning of the year.
Nurses have the strongest public backing, with three in five Britons supporting them and just three in 10 opposed.
Ambulance workers have similar levels of support, with 58% in favour and 33% opposed.
Health Secretary 'disappointed' over strike action
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “It is disappointing that the BMA is going ahead with further strike action. This five-day walkout by junior doctors will have an impact on thousands of patients, put patient safety at risk and hamper efforts to cut NHS waiting lists.
“We were in discussions about pay and a range of other measures to improve the working lives of junior doctors until their representatives collapsed the negotiations by announcing further strikes. A pay demand of 35% or more is unreasonable and risks fuelling inflation, which makes everyone poorer.
“Earlier this week I held a round table with doctors in training to talk about other key issues that affect them so we can work together to make the NHS a better place for all. We recently published the first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, which includes measures to better support staff, improve training and double the number of medical school places by 2031.
“If the BMA shows willingness to move significantly from their current pay demands and cancels these damaging and disruptive strikes, we can get around the table to find a fair deal to resolve this dispute.”