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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Resident doctors warn of ‘immensely disruptive' potential co-ordinated strikes
Resident doctors have warned they could launch co-ordinated industrial action with consultants and specialist doctors, if the groups vote to strike, in a move that would be 'immensely disruptive for patient care'. The physicians formerly known as junior doctors are being balloted in England for strike action that could last for six months by the British Medical Association (BMA) following criticism of the Government's recent pay rise offer of an average 5.4% rise for resident doctors. The threat of co-ordinated action comes after Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged doctors to vote against striking, with polling suggesting almost half of the British public are opposed to the proposed walkouts. The co-chairs of the resident doctors committee are calling on members to vote for strikes, with Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt telling The Sunday Times that consultants and specialty and associate specialist (SAS) doctors are also in pay disputes with the Government, and future industrial action could be co-ordinated across those groups. Dr Ryan, who works in Nottingham, said: 'We know how much the strikes last time were disruptive to patient care and the waiting list, but we also know exactly how much they cost the government and it was more than what it would cost to get to full pay restoration. 'Resident doctors are balloting for strike action but now you've got the consultant committee and you've got the SAS doctors also in a pay dispute with the Government. 'So last time we ended up co-ordinating some action and it was immensely disruptive for patient care, and we can see that on the horizon for this Government too.' 'We will have a mandate that runs from the end of July to the beginning of January 2026,' she continued. 'I am hoping that we will never get to the point where we have to take strike action but… we have three grades of doctors that are in pay disputes with the Government and there could be terrible disruption if the Government doesn't intervene soon.' Reality: I met twice with Resident Doctors in May and at the last meeting I offered to meet their entire committee. I can't offer a higher pay increase: resident doctors have the highest pay award in the entire public sector. These are not grounds that warrant strike action. — Wes Streeting (@wesstreeting) June 1, 2025 Dr Nieuwoudt, a resident doctor in Liverpool, claimed Mr Streeting has become unwilling to engage. '(He) seems to have gone from being the guy that was saying, 'Get in the room; talk it out; solve the problem,' to the guy that's not even willing to have that conversation with us,' he told the newspaper. On Sunday, the Health Secretary posted on social media that he had met with resident doctors twice in May and offered to meet their entire committee. 'I can't offer a higher pay increase: resident doctors have the highest pay award in the entire public sector,' Mr Streeting said. 'These are not grounds that warrant strike action.' A recent poll of 4,100 British adults by YouGov found that 48% of Britons oppose resident doctors going on strike, while 39% support them taking action. YouGov said this 'marks a shift in opinion' of public support of striking junior doctors last summer, when the majority of Britons – 52% – said they supported the action. It highlighted how Labour supporters were most supportive of strike action, with Conservatives expressing the strongest opposition. Resident doctors said their pay has declined by '23% in real terms since 2008'. If they vote to strike, walkouts could begin in July and could potentially last until January 2026. The Government accepted salary recommendations from pay review bodies earlier this month, resulting in an average 5.4% rise for resident doctors. A leading patients' organisation said it was 'deeply concerned' about the prospect of strike action in the NHS over the busy winter period. The Patients Association highlighted how previous strike action from doctors in training led to 1.3 million appointments, procedures and operations being postponed, with the true figure 'likely to be much higher'. The BMA ballot will close on July 7.
The Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Junior doctors are losing public's support over latest strike threat, poll reveals
JUNIOR doctors are losing the public's support over their latest strike threat, polling has shown. The hospital medics have this week started a ballot for a fresh wave of walkouts after being offered 5.4 per cent extra pay — despite getting a 22 per cent rise last year. 2 But public support for strikes has fallen from 52 per cent last summer to 39 per cent, in what pollsters from YouGov called a 'shift in opinion'. The British Medical Association called ministers' latest offer woefully inadequate. It says members will not wait for a stronger economy to get another bumper rise. More than a million appointments were cancelled in the last industrial action in 2023 and 2024. Rachel Power, chair of the Patients Association, said: 'More than 1.3million appointments were cancelled or rescheduled due to previous strike action and the total is likely to be much higher. 'It causes significant distress, pain and worsening health for patients, while placing additional pressure on remaining NHS staff. 'We respect resident doctors' right to take industrial action and we urgently call on the BMA and Government to intensify meaningful negotiations before the ballot closes on July 7. 'Patients have already suffered too much.' BMA leaders Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: 'Many will understandably be concerned about how future strike action might affect their care but it's important to stress that strike action is not inevitable and can be avoided. 'We're confident that patients will recognise that the value of doctors has not diminished since 2008, but that working conditions and pay have. ' Wes Streeting must now step forward with a solution.' Junior doctors branded 'irresponsible and dangerous' as they stage 11th strike with 5-day walkout 2
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Doctors ramp up strike threats as ballot begins despite inflation-busting 5.4% pay offer from desperate Labour ministers
Junior doctors are ramping up their threat to hold fresh strikes despite being offered an inflation-busting 5.4 per cent pay rise. The British Medical Association (BMA), the union representing doctors, has slammed the pay rise as not going far enough to restore historical pay freezes. Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, have started to receive ballots for industrial action. Labour ministers announced a series of public sector pay offers last week, including that most doctors would receive a 4 per cent pay rise. Resident doctors are to receive an extra £750 on top of the uplift, which Health Secretary Wes Streeting said works out to be a 5.4 per cent rise. Inflation figures published in the same week showed the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate rose by more than expected in April to 3.5 per cent. The BMA has branded the pay offer as 'woefully inadequate' and argued resident doctors were still not having their 'lost pay' restored. Dr Melissa Ryan, co-chair of the union's resident doctors committee, claimed the NHS had reached a 'crisis point' as she urged Mr Streeting to enter talks over pay. 'We're 23 per cent down on what doctors used to be paid in 2008,' Dr Ryan told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning. 'We can seeing doctors packing their bags wanting to head overseas, where they'll be better paid with better working conditions. 'So we're reaching a crisis point here, and we really do need to have a commitment from the Government to talk to us about this.' She added: 'We need our pay restored to 2008 levels because we're simply not worth less than doctors who were working in 2008. My work load is not 23 per cent easier. 'While it says it's a 5.4 per cent uplift, actually, with RPI inflation at 4.5 per cent, that's about 1 per cent. 'So it takes way more than a decade for us to even get close to restoring our pay.' In a settlement last year over their previous long-running pay dispute, a rise for resident doctors was worth 22 per cent across two years. This came at the same time as Chancellor Rachel Reeves axed winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners. When challenged over the previous bumper pay rise for resident doctors, Dr Ryan said the Government faced a 'political choice'. 'It comes down to whether the Government is willing to invest in doctors to stay in the country, to work for the NHS and give patients the world class health service that they deserve and that we did have,' she said. 'Really, it's a tough choice for them, because I understand the economic environment. 'But, if you fail to invest in doctors, then we're going to lose them overseas, and nobody's going to win.' Dr Ryan added the BMA's latest dispute with the Government 'needn't ever get to the point of strikes' as she urged Mr Streeting to 'simply have a conversation with us'. The Health Secretary has called on resident doctors to 'vote no' to industrial action and 'work with the Government', as he warned strikes could put efforts to rebuild the NHS at risk. 'I don't think strikes are in their interests, in patients' interests, and I certainly don't think it's in the interest of the NHS overall,' he told the BBC. Mr Streeting added: 'I understand the anxiety and anger that resident doctors have felt and continue to feel about their part of the profession – over 14 years, they saw the NHS that they were working in slide into crisis. 'That's why, within weeks of coming into office, I was determined to resolve the pay dispute and give resident doctors a substantial pay rise. 'That's now being followed by another above-inflation average pay award of 5.4 per cent (which includes the top up). 'The result is that resident doctors have seen their pay increase by 28.9 per cent compared to three years ago.' Resident doctor is the new term for junior doctor and refers to more than 50,000 qualified doctors working in GP practices and hospitals, from graduates to medics with a decade of experience. Resident doctor members of the BMA have taken industrial action 11 times since 2022. NHS England estimates the walkouts led to almost 1.5 million appointments being cancelled or rescheduled.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Resident doctors start receiving ballots for strike action
Resident doctors in England are being balloted for further strike action after criticising the Government 's latest pay offer. Ballots began arriving on Tuesday, following the Government's announcement last week of a 4 per cent pay rise for most doctors, with resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, receiving an additional £750. The ballot will close on July 7, and a mandate for action would last until January 2025. The British Medical Association (BMA), the union representing doctors, argues that this increase is insufficient to address the impact of previous pay freezes. While urging members to vote for strike action, the BMA's junior doctor committee co-chairs emphasised that negotiations with the Government remain a possibility. Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: 'Last week the Government finally told us what it would do to restore the pay of doctors: almost nothing. 'Doctors have seen their pay decline by 23 per cent in real terms since 2008. No doctor today is worth less than they were then, but at the rate the Government is offering it would be over a decade before we once again reached that level of pay. 'As ballots once again fall through doctors' letterboxes, we are simply saying: the NHS does not have that time. Waiting lists are too high, too many people can't see their GP, too many patients are being treated in corridors. 'Doctors need to be kept in the country and in their career not in 10 or 20 years' time, but now.' They continued: 'We are urging doctors to vote yes to strike action. By voting yes they will be telling the Government there is no alternative to fixing pay – this cannot wait for different fiscal circumstances and a healthier NHS. The answer is to fix it today. 'While doctors continue to return these ballots however, our door is always open. ' Wes Streeting has made clear he knows the value of dialogue over division. Instead of repeating the mistakes of his predecessors, he can come to us with a solution now. Even if doctors vote for industrial action, with the right approach not a single picket line need ever form.' The increase, recommended by an independent pay review body, is above the rate of inflation, which jumped to 3.5 per cent in April, up from 2.6 per cent in March and the highest since January 2024. But Professor Philip Banfield, the BMA's chairman of council, warned shortly after the Government's announcement that the union was already considering strike action, believing the pay rise does not do enough to restore doctors' pay after previous salary freezes. 'Doctors' pay is still around a quarter less than it was in real terms 16 years ago and today's 'award' delays pay restoration even more, without a government plan or reassurance to correct this erosion of what a doctor is worth,' he said. Mr Streeting said: 'I understand the anxiety and anger that resident doctors have felt and continue to feel about their part of the profession – over 14 years, they saw the NHS that they were working in slide into crisis. 'That's why, within weeks of coming into office, I was determined to resolve the pay dispute and give resident doctors a substantial pay rise. That's now being followed by another above-inflation average pay award of 5.4 per cent (which includes the top up). 'The result is that resident doctors have seen their pay increase by 28.9 per cent compared to three years ago. The average starting salary of a full-time Resident Doctor is now around £38,800 – up nearly £9,500 since 2022-23. 'I want to work in partnership with resident doctors to deliver the change that the NHS is crying out for. Together, we have made great progress – in the past ten months, through our Plan for Change, we have worked with staff to cut waiting lists by over 200,000 and put the NHS on the road to recovery – let's not stop now.' In an interview with the BBC, the Health Secretary called on junior doctors to 'vote no' and 'work with the government', warning strikes could put efforts to rebuild the NHS at risk. 'I don't think strikes are in their interests, in patients' interests, and I certainly don't think it's in the interest of the NHS overall,' he said. Resident doctor is the new term for junior doctor and refers to more than 50,000 qualified doctors working in GP practices and hospitals, from graduates to medics with a decade of experience. NHS England estimates the walkouts led to almost 1.5 million appointments being cancelled or rescheduled.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Streeting urges doctors to vote no in strike ballot
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has urged doctors in England to "vote no" in a ballot on industrial action which gets under way on a BBC interview, he urged resident doctors, the new name for junior doctors, to "work with the government" and warned strikes risked hampering the progress being made in the said it was in no-one's interests for strikes to take week it was announced resident doctors would be getting a 5.4% average pay rise this year - more than other doctors, nurses and resident doctors, who took part in 11 strikes in 2023 and 2024, said it was not enough to make up for below-inflation pay awards since 2008. The union is urging members to vote for industrial action, with sources saying strikes would be the likely action year's pay rise comes after resident doctors were awarded rises worth 22% over the previous two agreed to that deal shortly after coming into office, ending a dispute which had lasted more than a account of this year's pay rise, it means the starting salary for a doctor fresh out of university has risen by £9,500 over the past three years to around £38,800, the government said. 'Grotesque' But the British Medical Association (BMA) said even after the latest pay rise another 20% was needed to bring wages back to where they were in doctors' committee co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: "We are urging doctors to vote yes to strike action. "By voting yes they will be telling the government there is no alternative to fixing pay – this cannot wait for different fiscal circumstances and a healthier NHS. The answer is to fix it today."The vote on industrial action runs until 7 said his door was always open but added there was no more money to increase salaries above the latest he said a fresh bout of strikes would put attempts to rebuild the NHS at to the BBC, Streeting said: " I don't think strikes are in their interests, in patients interests and I certainly don't think it's in the interest of the NHS overall."Streeting has often cited the deal he reached last year to end the previous round of strikes as evidence of the government's ability to reform the health service and cut waiting lists. Meanwhile, BMA sources said consultants were likely to start a dispute process over their 4% rise - the first step towards moving to an industrial action staff including nurses, midwives and physios have been given a 3.6% increase. The Royal College of Nursing said it was "grotesque" nurses were getting less than doctors for the second year in a Scottish government has agreed a deal worth 8% over two years with health unions representing all staff apart from doctors and dentists. There have been no strikes by health workers in Scotland.
