Resident doctors say ‘the system is breaking’ as they begin five-day strike over jobs and pay row
Junior doctors have claimed there is a feeling that the “system is breaking down” as they embark on a five-day strike in England over an ongoing row over jobs and wages.
Doctors picketed across the country on Wednesday morning after the British Medical Association (BMA) called for a “genuine long-term plan” to increase doctors’ pay to address years of below-inflation increases.
Health minister Wes Streeting said the government had done “everything we could” to prevent the strike, including holding 11th-hour talks with BMA officials on Tuesday, and rejected a last-minute offer from its members.
Mr Streeting said health authorities were doing “everything we could” to minimize the impact of the strike, but warned patients would face disruption as hospitals deal with rising cases of flu and other winter illnesses, making it “the worst possible time” for the NHS.
At St Thomas’ Hospital in London, a number of junior doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, formed a picket line and were supported by passing motorists on Westminster Bridge Road who honked their horns in solidarity.
Doctors chanted slogans such as “Come on Wes, do it today, fix our jobs, fix our salaries” and said: Independent They felt that they had to leave their jobs due to their salaries, positions in the health service and working conditions.
Among them is Dr., a second-year doctor in the intensive care unit. Julia Thornton was also there. he said Independent: “Morale is very low. The combination of wage erosion and the fact that people can’t find work (if people can find work they will be doing the work of more than one person) creates a feeling that the system is broken.
“No matter how hard you work, you can’t treat the patients you want.”
Dr Thornton recalled a moment in his first year as a doctor that he believed summed up the challenges facing the NHS.
He said: “Last year I was working as a primary doctor in A&E. I had a patient who had been waiting 12 hours to see me. When I arrived they were dead in the corridor.
“This is something that really affects you, breaks your emotional morale and sense of pride in the profession.
“You’re dealing with people in the corridors working as hard as they can, but they’re still waiting for hours to be seen in A&E, and they’re waiting months and months for operations.”
The number of doctors leaving the NHS to take up another profession or work abroad was also a cause for concern for those on the picket line in the capital.
Dr Shivam Sharma told Independent: “We are Australia’s top medical school. We have a record number of doctors going to Australia and this is a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“Doctors are being trained only to leave, and that’s because doctors don’t feel valued within this healthcare system.”
Dr Sharma described the timing of the strikes as “short-term action for long-term patient safety” and added that “a serious attempt must be made to increase staffing in the NHS so patients can be seen”.
Those on the picket line in St Thomas were backed by former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North.
Asked by Independent On what he would do if he were in Mr Streeting’s shoes, Mr Corbyn said: “I would meet doctors, listen to them and spend time in A&E to understand what the pressures are like and what the moral blackmail is being used against doctors to try and achieve the impossible, as they do almost every day in A&E.”
NHS Confederation’s Dr. Layla McCay told Sky News: “What health service leaders are telling us is that the impact we will see from these particular strikes will particularly affect things like waiting lists and the disruption caused by this week will be felt well into January and beyond.”
Assistant doctors will return to work on December 22.
