Latest news with #junior doctors
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Goodwill and strain for hospitals during strike
Planning and organising has helped keep services running at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital during a five-day strike by doctors but it has been difficult to maintain, a medical director says. Resident doctors in England return to work on Tuesday after their walkout. The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which runs New Cross and Cannock Chase Hospital, said 236 non-urgent appointments were cancelled across both sites and many have had to be rescheduled. "We've tried to limit the impact on other services and been successful at that but obviously, as time goes on, it become more difficult to do," Dr Phil Dainty, the divisional medical director at New Cross, said. Why are resident doctors striking and what are they paid? Resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, said they took the strike action because they have not had a "credible pay deal" for 2025-2026. Health Secretary Wes Streeting had argued the strike was "unreasonable" after pay rises in recent years and, while it was not possible to eliminate disruption to services, he said it was being kept to a minimum. Up to 40% of the 600 resident doctors at New Cross and Cannock Chase were on strike, more than anticipated, the trust said. Since it began on Friday, of the 236 cancellations, 110 were operations with the rest made up of outpatient appointments, a trust spokesperson said. Walsall Manor Hospital, which works collaboratively with New Cross, said it has cancelled 269 non-urgent appointments, 37 of which were operations which representing 10% of normal work. BBC Midlands Today was given access to New Cross Hospital and spoke to staff and some patients about the effects of the strike. At one point overnight on Monday, 200 patients were in the emergency department and they faced much longer waits - although Monday nights are traditionally busy in A&Es across the country, following a weekend. Dr Harj Kainth, an acute medicine consultant at New Cross, said consultants were taking on the extra work and she had done three extra shifts. "It's tiring because we're doing it on top of our usual clinical work so now I'll be back in next weekend as well and working all this week," she said. John Potter, an 81-year-old grandfather and patient in the emergency department, said he "had every sympathy with them". "But unfortunately, it does have a knock-on effect inside the hospital," he said. Kevin Neal, a grandfather from Wednesfield who had collapsed at home, said he felt doctors should be paid more. "Doctors have saved my life once so I quite agree they should be paid more," the 67-year-old said. "It's a profession that takes a long time to get into." Patient Juliette Ford, 56, from Wednesfield said: "I haven't been neglected, [I've] been looked after so I really can't say I blame them because they do work hard for their money. "They save lives at the end of the day and I don't think you can put a price on that to be honest with you." Dr Dainty said it was a difficult situation with "a lot of goodwill". "There's a lot of planning and organisation that goes into providing this sort of service for a few days, but ultimately it's also very, very difficult to sustain in terms of the individuals involved but also the other services that we're trying to run," he said. Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. More on this story Pleas for strike doctors to work blocked by union Patients urged to go to appointments during strike 'I'm utterly lost': Patients' anger over doctors strike cancellations Resident doctors begin strike in dispute over pay Related internet links Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
NHS patients in Oxfordshire issued warning amid strike
NHS patients in Oxfordshire have been issued with a warning amid a doctor's strike. Strikes are set to hit today (Monday, July 28) and tomorrow (Tuesday, July 29) in the county. This is part of a five-day walkout by resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, which commenced on Friday (July 25). Set to finish on Wednesday morning, the strike is the 12th by doctors since 2023 in what has been a long-running dispute over pay. READ MORE: Former US Vice President visits country pub in Cotswolds It comes after last week's failure to agree on wages between the doctors' union, the British Medical Association (BMA), and the government. Patients in Oxfordshire have been warned about the potential strikes over the next couple of days via an NHS update across social media. Despite the expected action, those in the county with appointments with GPs have been encouraged to attend unless informed otherwise. A statement from NHS Oxfordshire said: "Today and tomorrow, some services may be affected due to strike action. "Please continue to attend your GP appointments unless you are contacted and told otherwise."
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
An octagonal city and the closed Acropolis: photos of the day
Holidaymakers and lorry drivers come to a standstill as traffic builds at the border Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Authorities have closed the Acropolis to visitors during the hottest part of the day as a heatwave engulfs the country Photograph: Petros Giannakouris/AP A picket line at Manchester Royal Infirmary as up to 50,000 resident doctors in England, formerly known as junior doctors, begin five days of industrial action over pay and conditions Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Children try to stay cool in a fountain. The peninsula has been blanketed by a double layer of high pressure that has nudged the temperature to a scorching 37C (100F) Photograph: Chung Sung-jun/Getty Images A man wades past kelp as he goes for a swim in the Pacific Ocean at La Jolla Shores in California Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP An aerial view of an octagonal fortress that forms one of the most extraordinary cities in the world. Constructed in the 17th-century by Sébastien Le Prestre, a military architect serving King Louis XIV, the city in Alsace features evenly spaced bastions, perpendicular streets and star-shaped fortifications Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images A Ukrainian soldier fires D-20 artillery Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images The sun rises over the New York City skyline. An extreme heat warning is in place in New Jersey from 10am to 9pm on Friday Photograph: Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters Yusuf al-Ladavi, an eight-year-old Palestinian boy, at al-Ehli Baptist hospital, where he is receiving treatment after being injured in an Israeli attack on the strip. There are more child amputees in Gaza than anywhere else in the world Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images People use poles to ride an improvised float along a flooded road. Typhoon Co-may has intensified seasonal monsoon rains Photograph: Aaron Favila/AP An environmental group carry a portable wildlife observation booth at the Punta San Juan reserve, where a decline in guano birds, sea lions and penguins has alarmed scientists Photograph: Sebastian Castañeda/Reuters Xantheia Pennisi of Australia competes during the women's 20-metre high-diving event at the World Aquatics Championships Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA Dead palm trees line a road as authorities battle an influx of red palm weevils, which have been devouring the usually hardy species Photograph: Matilde Campodonico/AP A woman at a pro-Palestinian rally holds aloft an image of a starving child. Gaza is facing human-made mass starvation caused by the blockade of aid into the territory, the head of the World Health Organization has said Photograph: Orestis Panagiotou/EPA Joaquín Romero blows air into the face of a Hereford cow to calm the animal during a livestock sale at the Rural Society's annual exposition Photograph: Natacha Pisarenko/AP The country singer-songwriter Craig Campbell performs at the Kenny Campbell Foundation benefit concert in Tennessee. The event aims to raise funds and awareness for colorectal cancer Photograph:
BBC News
24-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Resident doctor strike will harm patients, NHS boss warns
The strike by resident doctors, which starts on Friday in England, is not acceptable because of the harm it will cause patients, says a senior NHS Tim Briggs, who is a national director at NHS England and has been involved with talks with the BMA on strike planning, says while doctors have a right to strike it should never lead to patient harm - but it is now clear the walkouts by resident doctors will harm doctors – the new term for junior doctors – will start a five-day strike at 07:00 BST doctors are being asked to provide cover, but Prof Briggs is worried about the impact it will have on both emergency and non-urgent care. NHS England is aiming to keep the majority of non-urgent care, such as knee and hip operations, going during this strike, which marks a change in approach compared with previous industrial action when such treatment was cancelled BMA believes this approach is not safe – and says non-urgent care should be cancelled in many cases to ensure emergency services are better doctors have been involved in 11 strikes in their long-running pay have led to the cancellation of more than a million treatments and Briggs told the BBC: "We know from the pandemic and the last strike that if you cancel those [non-urgent] patients many have been waiting a significant amount of time, those patients come to harm."You cannot decouple elective and emergency care, the two go together."He said that was because cancelled operations can have serious adverse effects on patients both mentally and physically, citing examples of patients facing long waits for a hip replacement and being left on strong painkillers unable to get out of their chair or go upstairs." BMA leader Dr Tom Dolphin said: "We are very sorry that strikes have become necessary and of course if people have emergencies or need urgent care they should still present to the hospital or their GP as usual, as they always would."Striking is something that doctors don't want to have to do," he said, adding that the walkouts could have been avoided if "a real pathway" had been made on restoring the "lost value" of pay. He said the BMA was still open to further discussions about resolving the dispute. The strike is going ahead after talks between the government and BMA broke down on five days of talks the two sides discussed extra financial support for resident doctors to cover the cost of exam fees and equipment as well as faster career BMA asked for a scheme to help write off student loans, but the government rejected of the talks, Health Secretary Wes Streeting made it clear he would not revisit this year's pay doctors were given an average rise of 5.4% - and this came after an increase of more than 20% over the previous two NHS managers have also criticised what they say are inflated shift rates being requested by senior doctors to provide cover for striking resident Elkeles, of NHS Providers, which represents health managers, said the strike would be a "crushing blow" for said another "huge worry" was the cost, saying the BMA had recommended senior doctors ask for "inflated rates" that were "simply unaffordable"The BMA has recommended senior doctors insist on premium rates that for consultants can exceed £300 an hour for night can mean they can earn three times what they normally BMA said doctors needed to be incentivised to take on this extra work.
Telegraph
24-07-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Use the NHS as usual during junior doctors' strikes, public told
Junior doctors must face the financial consequences of going on strike, the new head of NHS England has said. Sir Jim Mackey said striking medics should not be able to make up for lost shifts by doing overtime to clear backlogs once industrial action is over. Thousands of junior doctors are expected to join the strike, which is the 12th they have staged since March 2023. They are demanding a 29 per cent pay rise despite already having been handed an increase by Labour. Sir Jim urged hospital leaders to keep routine operations and appointments going if possible and to only cancel if there is a risk to patient safety. He said the NHS would be 'much more resistant' to demands from the BMA, according to The Times, adding that previous strikes had been 'net positive from a financial point of view' for doctors but must not be 'consequence-free' this time. In a call with hospital leaders on Wednesday, he said: 'We've been very, very clear we want to have a different approach this time. 'You have noticed already we are in a different space compared to where we were last time, much more instructive to the BMA, much more resistant to their demands. 'Frankly we and you make decisions about safety, not the BMA. Do what you do best, make sensible decisions and we'll stick together.' NHS England said hospitals and local teams had been preparing before the industrial action by the British Medical Association, which begins at 7am on Friday, and had plans to 'minimise disruption to patient care and ensure life-saving care continues'. During the strike, GP surgeries will open as usual and urgent care and A&E will continue to be available for those who need them, NHS England said. It urged the public to use 111 online as the first port of call for urgent but not life-threatening issues. Prof Meghana Pandit, NHS England national medical director, said: 'There is no doubt this industrial action will take a toll on patients and NHS staff, and it is disappointing it is going ahead. 'While it will mean some appointments won't be able to go ahead as planned, we are doing all we can to limit this, and patients should continue to use NHS services in the usual way. 'The public should dial 999 in an emergency, and otherwise use 111 online, your local pharmacist or GP, and patients should attend NHS appointments unless told otherwise.' The BMA said NHS England's plan posed a risk to patients. Strikes by resident doctors last June led to 61,989 inpatient and outpatient appointments being rescheduled. Since the end of 2022, almost 1.5 million appointments have been rescheduled as a result of industrial action. The BMA said on Tuesday that talks with the Government aimed at averting the strike had collapsed over the core issue of pay. Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, co-chairs of the BMA's resident doctors committee, said in a statement: 'We have always said that no doctor wants to strike and all it would take to avoid it is a credible path to pay restoration offered by the Government. 'We came to talks in good faith, keen to explore real solutions to the problems facing resident doctors today. 'Unfortunately, we did not receive an offer that would meet the scale of those challenges. 'While we were happy to discuss non-pay issues that affect doctors' finances we have always been upfront that this is at its core a pay dispute.' 'Completely unjustified, completely unprecedented' Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, said: ' We cannot move on pay after a 28.9 per cent pay rise ' but added that the Government was looking at ways to improve resident doctors' working lives. He said there was an opportunity for the union 'to work with us on a range of options that would have made a real difference to resident doctors' working conditions and created extra roles to deal with the bottlenecks that hold back their career progression. 'Instead, they have recklessly and needlessly opted for strike action.' 'All of my attention will be now on averting harm to patients and supporting NHS staff at work. 'After a 28.9 per cent pay hike in the last three years and the highest pay rise in the public sector two years in a row, strike action is completely unjustified, completely unprecedented in the history of British trade unionism and shows a complete disdain for patients and the wider recovery of the NHS.' It came after research suggested public support for the strike is waning. A YouGov poll showed about half (52 per cent) of people in the UK 'somewhat oppose' (20 per cent) or 'strongly oppose' (32 per cent) resident doctors going on strike over pay. A third (34 per cent) of the 4,954 adults surveyed either 'somewhat support' (23 per cent) or 'strongly support' (11 per cent) doctor strikes. YouGov said the proportion supporting the strike over pay has dropped five points since it last asked the question in May, when 48 per cent opposed the strikes and 39 per cent supported them. Daniel Elkeles, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said the decision for strikes to go ahead 'is a crushing blow for patients and for the NHS'. Resident doctors are qualified doctors in clinical training. They have completed a medical degree and can have up to nine years of working experience as a hospital doctor, depending on their speciality, or up to five years of working and gaining experience to become a GP.
