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Junior doctors in England to strike for four days in April Junior doctors in England to strike for four days in April
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British Medical Association accuses government of failing to make ‘credible offer’ to resolve pay disputeBritish Medical Association accuses government of failing to make ‘credible offer’ to resolve pay dispute
Junior doctors in England are to hold a new round of strikes after talks with the government failed to resolve a bitter row over pay. Junior doctors have intensified their pay dispute with the government by calling a four-day strike that NHS bosses fear will force them to cancel up to 250,000 appointments.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said a 96-hour stoppage would take place for shifts starting between 6.59am on Tuesday 11 April and 6.59am on Saturday 15 April. The British Medical Association blamed ministers for the walkout and said they had not put forward “any credible offer” in response to its claim of a 35% pay rise for trainee doctors in England.
The BMA said the health secretary, Steve Barclay, had failed to make any “credible offer”, and it accused the government of not being serious about resolving the dispute. The 96-hour stoppage will start just after the Easter bank holiday weekend and run from 06.59 on Tuesday 11 April to 06.59 on Saturday 15 April and affect every NHS hospital in England.
Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairs of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, said: “It is with disappointment and great frustration that we must announce this new industrial action. Hospital officials warned that the unprecedented duration of the strike would imperil patients’ safety and urged junior doctors to “reflect” on the wisdom of their planned action.
“The government has dragged its feet at every opportunity. It has not presented any credible offer and is refusing to accept that there is any case for pay restoration, describing our central ask as ‘unrealistic’ and ‘unreasonable’. Even yesterday they continued to add new unacceptable preconditions to talks instead of getting on and trying to find a resolution. “The government has dragged its feet at every opportunity. It has not made any credible offer and is refusing to accept that there is any case for pay restoration, describing our central ask as ‘unrealistic’ and ‘unaffordable’”, said Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trevedi, the co-chairs of the BMA’s junior doctors committee.
“We therefore have no confidence that without further action these negotiations can be successful. This situation is entirely of the government’s own making. The main doctors’ union called the strike after talks with Steve Barclay, the health secretary, broke down without achieving any progress.
“We want to spend our time looking after patients, not on strike, but with an NHS buckling under a workforce crisis, and four in 10 junior doctors looking to leave, we can’t stand by while our pay is further eroded by inflation and an intransigent government. There is a growing acrimony surrounding the dispute, with both sides accusing the other of being unreasonable. The BMA is seeking a 35% pay uplift for junior doctors, whose salaries have fallen in value in real terms by 26% since 2008/09 – a demand Barclay says is “unreasonable”.
“We are not going to stop until we are paid what we are worth, and if ministers don’t accept that when we tell them in person, we will have to tell them from the picket line.” In a reference to the failed talks, Laurenson and Trevedi added: “Even yesterday they continued to add new unacceptable preconditions to talks instead of getting on and trying to find a resolution.
Saffron Cordery, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents trusts in England, said: “The prospect of a 96-hour strike by junior doctors will ring alarm bells for trust leaders up and down the country. “The situation is entirely of the government’s own making. We are not going to stop until we are paid what we are worth.”
“It would immediately follow a four-day bank holiday weekend, meaning demand will have piled up before the strike even begins on 11 April. There will also be no exemptions. Dr Naru Narayanan, the president of the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, the other medical trade union, also blamed minsters for the 96-hour stoppage, which HCSA members will join in too. Minister have “seen fit to ignore the overwhelming support among junior doctors for this dispute driven by year after year of real-terms pay cuts.”
“This threatens the biggest disruption from NHS walkouts so far. There should be no doubt about the scale of the impact on patients, staff and the NHS. No one wants this. Thousands of junior doctors staged a three-day strike on 6-8 March, which led to 175,000 outpatient appointments and operations being rescheduled. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that “further strikes will risk patient safety and cause further disruption.”
“It’s hugely disappointing that talks between the government and the doctors’ unions have broken down.” The NHS Confederation, which represents health service trusts, said it shared that fear. “Sadly, it is inevitable that this will impact on patient safety and dignity. Further industrial action will have a significant impact on patient care”, said Matthew Taylor, its chief executive.
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Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “This hugely disappointing news will be a blow to leaders’ efforts to tackle the backlog, and further industrial action will have a significant impact on patient care. The walkout is “a blow” to the NHS’s efforts to reduce the 7.2m-strong backlog of people waiting for hospital treatment and “a huge setback” to hopes that the dispute would be resolved, he added.
“Leaders will have been hoping for progress and an outcome similar to negotiations with the agenda for change unions, so news of another, longer walkout is a huge setback for plans. Sadly, it is inevitable that this will impact on patient safety and dignity.”Junior doctors in the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) will strike on the same days. The union, which represents about 600 junior doctors, accused the government of refusing to drop preconditions for talks to resolve the dispute. Hospitals will find it hard to get consultants (senior doctors) to cover their junior colleagues’ shifts during the fresh stoppage on 11-15 April because they are owed leave from doing so on 6-8 March.
Dr Naru Narayanan, the HCSA president, said: “HCSA wrote to Steve Barclay last week warning that his preconditions presented an impassable barrier to us getting round the table to find a resolution. “Complicating matters further is the fact that leaders are unlikely to be able to call again on consultants in the same way to fill in rota gaps, due to many having accumulated leave from providing cover during the first strikes. This poses a he challenge to services already stretched by having too few staff, so another walkout poses a real risk to patient safety”, Taylor added.
“It is hugely disappointing that the government has seen fit to ignore the overwhelming support among junior doctors for this dispute driven by year after year of real-terms pay cuts.“To resolve this dispute the government must drop the theatrics, engage sincerely and recognise the long-term danger to the NHS and health services if we do not retain the doctors we need.” Saffron Cordery, the deputy chief executive of hospitals group NHS Providers, said the timing of the four-day strike was unhelpful for the NHS because it will follow directly on from the Easter weekend, when skeleton bank holiday staffing will means that “demand will have piled up” anyway.
“This threatens the biggest disruption from NHS walkouts so far”, she added. Cordery urged the unions and ministers to “urgently re-enter talks in good faith.”
A DHSC spokesperson said: “The health and social care secretary met the BMA’s junior doctors committee yesterday in the hope of beginning constructive talks to resolve the current dispute.
“The BMA placed a pre-condition on these talks of a 35% pay rise. That is unreasonable.”
They added: “Our door remains open to constructive conversations, as we have had with other health unions, to find a realistic way forward which balances rewarding junior doctors for their hard work while being fair to the taxpayer.”