We don’t want to be here, say striking doctors – as NHS sounds alarm over early flu spike
Thousands of junior doctors across the UK have gone on a five-day strike following a pay dispute with the government.
The strike comes as NHS bosses warn that this winter could be the toughest yet for staff due to fears that the flu epidemic will disrupt the health service.
Independent Arthur Joustra, a 27-year-old pediatric trainee from Nottinghamshire, said he was dragged to the picket line due to the urgent need for more staff and the wage reshuffle.
“No doctor wants to go on strike. I think strikes always make me quite nervous when they come up, because the last thing I want to do is not go to work. I love my job, I love helping patients, that’s why I’ve dedicated my life to this profession.”
Many NHS Trusts report that around half of residents are on strike; This is similar to or slightly less than recent strikes. Independent he understands.
Health Minister Wes Streeting accused striking doctors on Friday of holding patients for “ransom”. Mr Joustra said delays and cancellations of appointments were inevitable.
“The immediate harm caused by strikes is to try to prevent future harm, which will get worse as waiting lists get longer,” he added.
“This is not out of malice, not out of greed, but for a better outcome for our patients and ultimately a better NHS.”
Many of the people Mr. Joustra knew in medical school are now unemployed or have moved abroad for better conditions. he said. “This is something I don’t think anyone really expected. When I applied to medical school in 2015, the idea of being unemployed was incomprehensible as a doctor.”
Last week the British Medical Association (BMA) rejected the government’s proposal, which included provisions for additional specialist training places and covering compulsory examination and membership fees.
“It is very difficult to negotiate two issues when one is completely off the table,” Mr. Joustra said.
“Work is becoming more difficult due to staff shortages, longer NHS hours, longer waiting times, an aging population and a greater disease burden, but wages do not reflect this.
“Anyone can put two and two together; if we constantly see the erosion of the workforce, the erosion of fair wages, it’s only going to go in one direction, and it’s not going to be a positive direction.”
The BMA argued that, taking inflation into account, doctors needed a 26 per cent pay increase to regain their earnings.
The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers said the ongoing action was putting pressure on already strained budgets, with the last strike in July estimated to have cost the health service £300 million.
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England national medical director, said: “At a challenging time for the NHS, it is frustrating and disappointing that we are facing a new round of industrial action as flu cases rise earlier than usual and more staff are likely to miss work due to illness.”
The health minister criticized the doctors’ strike on Friday morning, telling LBC radio the action was “completely unnecessary”. He said: “I am working to address each of these issues in terms of pay, specialist training places, improving conditions.
“These are not the conditions under which people would go on strike. Strikes should be a last resort.”
Earlier in the week, Mr Streeting accused the BMA of acting like a cartel, causing “untold misery and disruption” to patients.
To talk Independent, BMA council chairman Tom Dolphin said the comments were “not fair at all”.
He said: “When we talk about the cartel, we have to look at the working conditions that hospitals put doctors through, that’s what we need to focus on.”
Mr Dolphin lamented a “jobs crisis” for junior doctors, saying thousands of trainees could not continue working without more training places opening up.
Despite salary increases in recent years, junior doctors are still down significantly compared to 2008, he said. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has so far refused to move forward on pay, claiming junior doctors have received a pay rise of almost 30 per cent in three years.
Mr Dolphin said: “Years of below-inflation pay rises or pay cuts have had a real impact, we are still down a fifth in pay compared to 2008.”
While he is confident there will be a deal, he said last week’s offer did not come close enough to solving the problem.
“The problem is that the Secretary of State has made it clear that he doesn’t think he can go any further, and we don’t think the proposal comes close enough to solving the problem.”
