Latest news with #JuniorDoctors
The Guardian
an hour ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Doctors striking without warning ‘shockingly irresponsible', says Streeting
Doctors striking without informing their NHS trusts would be 'unconscionable', the health secretary has warned in advance of a meeting with the British Medical Association (BMA). Wes Streeting said that if it goes ahead, the strike would be a 'catastrophic mistake' and that any decision by resident doctors not to tell their employers about their intention to strike would be 'shockingly irresponsible'. Streeting told MPs that BMA leaders seemed to be telling their members 'not to inform their trusts or their employers if they're going out on strike' and that he could not fathom 'how any doctor in good conscience would make it harder for managers to make sure we have safe staffing levels'. Streeting is due to meet representatives of the BMA on Tuesday ahead of their planned five-day strike starting on 25 July. Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, voted to take the action in pursuit of a 29% pay rise that the union has said was needed to replace lost pay over years of cuts. Labour has offered resident doctors a 5.4% pay rise this year, after a 22% rise agreed for the previous two years. Speaking at the health and social care select committee on Monday, Streeting said that 'going on strike having received a 28.9% pay increase is not only unreasonable and unnecessary given the progress that we've been making on pay and other issues, it's also self-defeating'. The figure is based on government calculations that resident doctors have received a 28.9% pay rise over the last three years. Streeting said there was 'no more room for manoeuvre' on residents doctors' pay but that he was willing to engage on several other union demands including on unemployment and progression into speciality posts. He warned that any decision by resident doctors not to inform their trusts that they will strike 'would make it harder for other staff who are going to be turning up to work that day, not least the staff who have not had a higher percentage pay rise, many of whom are paid less than resident doctors'. Streeting warned that while he accepted doctors' right to strike, the 'idea that doctors would go on strike without informing their employer, not allowing planning for safe staffing, I think, is unconscionable, and I would urge resident doctors who are taking part in strike actions to do the right thing'. He warned the strike would lead to cancellations and delays in patient treatment, and spoke of a family member who was waiting for the 'inevitable' phone call informing them that their procedure would be postponed. 'We can mitigate against the impact of strikes, and we will, but what we cannot do is promise that there will be no consequence and no delay, no further suffering, because there are lots of people whose procedures are scheduled over that weekend period and in the period subsequently, where the NHS has to recover from the industrial action, who will see their operations and appointments delayed,' he said. 'I have a relative in that position. My family are currently dreading what I fear is an inevitable phone call saying that there is going to be a delay to this procedure. And I just think this is an unconscionable thing to do to the public, not least given the 28.9% pay rise.' The BMA defended resident doctors' pay claim on Monday, saying they did not work through the Covid pandemic only to end up with a real-terms pay cut. 'We are still down compared to even the pandemic in 2020,' Emma Runswick, a resident doctor in Greater Manchester and deputy chair of the BMA council, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
‘Highly dangerous' doctor strike will happen even in heatwave
Junior doctors in England, represented by the British Medical Association (BMA), are set to begin a five-day strike from 25 July over a pay dispute. The BMA has confirmed the industrial action will proceed even if health alerts are issued due to high temperatures, though a system for voluntary return for safety concerns is in place. The BMA's new leader insists their "non-negotiable" demand is for a 29 per cent pay restoration, aiming to recover real-terms losses since 2008. Health Secretary Wes Streeting stated that further pay increases are "unaffordable" and unfair, as junior doctors have already received a 28.9 per cent pay award this year. A recent Ipsos poll indicates a significant drop in public support for the strike, with only 26 per cent now backing the action compared to 52 per cent last summer.
Telegraph
12 hours ago
- Health
- Telegraph
The hospital pizza parties that prove junior doctors were always going to strike again
Junior doctors held pizza parties in NHS hospitals to recruit wavering colleagues to join them on strike this summer. The British Medical Association (BMA) always planned to launch further industrial action after accepting a 22 per cent pay rise in 2024, using a 'bank and build' strategy, it has been claimed. So-called 'pizza and pay meetings' are a key way to 're-engage those who may have stepped back from striking', according to a strategy document from the BMA published in 2024. At these forums, often held in the doctor's mess at hospitals, BMA members and activists urged members to accept the 22 per cent pay offer made by Labour after winning the general election July 2024, because doctors would go on strike again in 'as little as eight or nine months' time. The BMA accepted the last pay rise in September 2024 but has now refused a further 5.4 per cent offer. A five-day walkout is planned from 7am July 24. Junior doctors, now knows as resident doctors, caused 201,000 appointments to be cancelled in April 2023 when they staged their first five-day walkout and a similar number could be affected this time. The 'bank and build' strategy is a common union tactic to consolidate gains and work towards more pay rises at a later date, instead of holding out for more money in one go. Dr Tom Dolphin, BMA council chairman, told The Telegraph: 'Achieving full pay restoration has been BMA policy since 2022 and the 'bank and build' strategy – developed last year and a recognised industrial strategy – is phase two of the campaign to achieve full pay restoration for resident doctors in England and something the Government has been aware of since its inception last year.' Some 90 per cent of voting resident doctors have backed the latest strike action, with the BMA reporting a turnout of 55 per cent. Junior doctors want full pay restoration to 2008 levels which would involve a 28 per cent pay rise. The goal of the pizza parties and the 'bank and build' plan was to get enough union members to vote in favour of accepting the 2024 pay offer under the clear plan that there would be further strikes in 2025 to win even more money from the taxpayer. Members may otherwise have voted no and held out for a larger offer at the time. This strategy aims to 'maximise leverage' and help maintain the 'critical mass required for strong and effective industrial action'. A group of physicians known as DoctorsVote, which uses social media as a recruiting tool, is driving the pizza and pay talks. The movement has adopted the crab as its logo and is now shorthand in medical circles for a strike supporter. Some with crabs in their online names have shared pictures of their meetings, which show slices of pizza on paper plates. Meanwhile, Telegraph analysis has found that some junior doctors planning to strike will be earning more than £100,000 a year. A junior doctor on a 40-hour week, including a full 'on-call' rota, currently earns more than £100,000 a year before finishing training. Pay boosts under Labour mean junior doctors have seen earnings rise by 28.9 per cent, bringing basic starting salaries to £38,831 a year. But there are significant boosts to pay from on-call working, which can typically take average earnings for this group to around £53,000 without any locum work. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, said on Wednesday after the strike announcement that the BMA was being 'completely unreasonable' and urged the union to 'abandon their rush to strike'. Mr Streeting plans to meet BMA representatives this week for talks in an effort to avoid the action. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: 'The BMA has accepted the Health Secretary's offer to meet and we expect that to happen this week.'
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Junior doctors' strike to cost Britain almost £13m a day
Resident doctor strikes are poised to cost Britain almost £13m for each day of walkouts, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). Analysis for The Telegraph found the five-day strike would deliver a £64m hit to the economy as Britain loses working days and suffers lower productivity. However, the overall cost is likely to be far higher as the findings do not factor in indirect losses, such as the consequences of missed appointments. The figures will come as a blow to Sir Keir Starmer after he gave away big pay rises last year to end industrial action. Samuel Miley, from CEBR, said: 'You will have people who unfortunately miss hospital appointments because of the strike or receive care that would have been better. 'Those people will face negative consequences in terms of their own health, which subsequently can be measured in economic terms. 'For instance, if they are forced to spend more time off work, or their condition worsens such that they are no longer able to return to work at all.' More than 200,000 hospital appointments risk being cancelled as a result of the walkouts, which will take place from July 25. Junior doctors are demanding a 29pc pay rise despite receiving the largest public sector salary increase for the second year in a row. Blow to Starmer The walkout is embarrassing for Sir Keir Starmer who last year highlighted ending NHS strikes as a key factor in 'fixing the foundations of this country'. It is also a major setback for his mission of bringing down Britain's ballooning benefits bill, with surging long-term sickness blamed as a key driver by experts. Britain's tattered public finances leave little room for outsized pay rises, suggesting strikes will be difficult to resolve. Economists have warned Rachel Reeves may already be as much as £30bn short of fiscal rules ahead of the autumn Budget. Mr Miley said: 'The financial situation is tight, which means that any increase in public sector expenditure is fraught with difficulties. 'That being said, doctors are clearly an essential part of the workforce and have probably more bargaining power than other public sector workers. Hence, I think a pay rise is probably the more likely outcome.' The resident doctor strikes also threaten to in bringing down NHS waiting lists, putting a key Labour manifesto pledge at risk. The Office for National Statistics recently found the healthcare system was still 9.6pc less productive than in 2019, despite receiving £30bn more in funding. The NHS employed a record 2m people in March, an increase of 44,000 from a year earlier.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Junior doctors earning £100k to strike over pay
Junior doctors striking over pay are earning as much as £100,000 a year, The Telegraph can disclose. The medics, who voted this week in favour of mass walkouts owing to salary demands, have already been given a 28.9 per cent pay rise under Labour, but the British Medical Association (BMA) is now calling for a further increase of 29 per cent. Senior doctors have criticised the BMA for damaging the medical profession with its five-day walkout, which will start on July 25. The plans are causing a growing generational rift between junior doctors – now called resident doctors – and consultants, some of whom worked 100 hours a week before the European working time directive introduced a 48-hour cap. One senior figure said the five-day strike seemed ' disproportionate ' and accused the BMA of not 'reading the room'. Another senior doctor accused the current generation of a 'sense of entitlement' despite being extremely well rewarded. A junior doctor on a 40-hour week, including a full 'on-call' rota, currently earns more than £100,000 a year, before finishing training. Pay boosts under Labour mean junior doctors have seen earnings rise by 28.9 per cent, bringing basic starting salaries to £38,831 a year. But there are significant boosts to pay from on-call working, which can typically take average earnings for this group to around £53,000, without any locum work. By the time doctors reach the last stage of training, called ST8, basic starting salaries are £73,992 a year. This means an ST8 junior doctor working a 40-hour week, with a full on-call rota, including one in six weekends and one in eight nights, can expect to earn £101,369 per annum. Polling shows just one in five people back the strikes, when given details of recent pay awards. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, told the Commons earlier this week: 'With the greatest respect to resident doctors, there are other people working in our public services who are feeling the pinch more than they are.' He said pay could be boosted if they were prepared to consider cutting pension entitlements, which are so generous that consultants say they face too great a tax burden. One NHS leader said many senior doctors felt the BMA was 'damaging the medical brand', which could undermine faith in the profession more widely. On Thursday, medical leaders warned junior doctors they may 'never recover' the trust of patients if they go on strike again. Prof Sir Stephen Powis, the outgoing NHS England national medical director, said doctors must consider 'how difficult it might be to recover public trust' if they go ahead with strikes. Lord Darzi of Denham, a surgeon who led an independent review of the NHS last year, said he feared the public's trust might 'never recover if the BMA go ahead with strikes that are plainly unjustifiable.' While many consultants are expressing concern about the impact of the strikes, some are asking for up to five times their hourly rate to cover shifts during the walkouts, he said. The BMA intends to hold an 'indicative' ballot on the appetite of consultant doctors to hold their own walkouts, but senior medics are less convinced of the case. Tensions are also growing between doctors and other staff groups. NHS leaders said the short notice before the strikes showed 'a lack of respect to colleagues' who will be expected to stand in. Lord Robert Winston, the professor and renowned IVF pioneer, has resigned from the BMA over the planned strikes. The 84-year-old, who has been a member of the union since 1964, told The Times: 'Strike action completely ignores the vulnerability of people in front of you. 'Doctors need to be reminded that every time they have a patient in front of them, they have someone who is frightened and in pain. It's important that doctors consider their own responsibility much more seriously.' Senior figures think many medics may be unwilling to forego earnings to strike and are becoming increasingly aware that the public is turning against them. Hospital bosses believe fewer junior doctors will take to the picket line than ever before when the walkouts start. Fewer than one in three have voted to strike, with just 55 per cent of the BMA's 53,766 eligible members voting in the ballot. Almost 25,000 junior doctors are not BMA members, and a separate union – the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association – has told members they have no legal right to walk out if colleagues do. Junior doctors have taken part in 11 strikes since 2023, only stopping industrial action when they were awarded a 22 per cent pay rise by Labour, which has since been topped up. But participation had already fallen substantially. By the last walkout, on the eve of the general election, 23,001 doctors joined at the peak of a five-day strike, down from more than 29,000 at the height of the first of them in March 2023. Prof Karol Sikora, the oncologist, wrote in The Telegraph condemning the strike. He said he was 'truly shocked' by the demands from the BMA. He urged Mr Streeting not to cave in to the demands, saying the NHS had lost a 'spirit of togetherness' which meant he and other doctors were happy despite poor pay and 'ridiculously long hours'. Dr Clare Gerada, the former president of the Royal College of General Practice, said: 'The BMA opposed the NHS at its founding. Now, with more strikes planned, it risks hastening its collapse. Every delay and cancelled op strengthens those who argue the NHS no longer works. We must fight for the NHS – not just for ourselves.' Prof John Ashton, a professor, consultant and former public health director, said the BMA 'had been taken over by Trots' – a colloquial term used to describe a socialist who subscribes to the political ideas of the Marxist revolutionary and Soviet Union politician, Leon Trotsky. A Government source said: 'Most resident doctors didn't vote to strike, and other medical unions are distancing themselves from the BMA resident doctors committee's unreasonable approach. 'The BMA is looking increasingly isolated. We're hopeful that most reasonable resident doctors won't go along with these unnecessary and unfair strikes, and put their patients before the BMA.' Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, the co-chairmen of the BMA resident doctors committee, said: 'In terms of doctors being part of an on-call rota, the value of allowance is a percentage of the full-time basic salary and frequency. 'However, regarding The Telegraph's specific example, there will be very few resident doctors regularly working the number of hours needed to earn a salary of that level. They'd need to work around fifty hours a week plus every other weekend, which is not sustainable. 'The planned industrial action is not about hypothetical individual examples, it is about restoring the pay of all resident doctors in England to where it was in 2008, in real terms, paying them their worth, recognising their value and making them want to stay and work in the NHS, not abroad.'
