The NHS is facing a “huge and growing risk” amid disruptions caused by continuous industrial action, health service bosses have warned.
Junior doctors launched a five-day strike on Thursday, in what is being described as the longest walkout of its kind in the NHS’s history amid ongoing protests over pay.
Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) in England mounted picket lines outside hospitals from 7 a.m. at the start of the walkout, which will cause huge disruption, affecting operations and consultations.
The BMA claims junior doctors in England have seen a 26 percent real-terms pay cut since 2008/2009 because pay rises have been below inflation. It said the pay issue is making it harder to recruit and retain junior doctors.
The union has asked for a full pay restoration, but the government said it would be unaffordable as it would amount to a 35 percent pay rise.
Though some health unions, including the Royal College of Nursing, have accepted the government’s pay offers, industrial actions in the NHS are still causing serious disruptions.
‘Fraying the Fabric of the NHS’
NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, has urged both the BMA and the government to resume talks in a bid to head off more industrial action.Deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery said: “The impact of these disputes is fraying the fabric of the NHS, held together by a unique sense of commitment and shared endeavour across the workforce that has served it so well over so many years. We lose that at our peril.
“The disruption for many thousands of patients and the potential harm of delaying their treatment is a huge and growing risk for the NHS to manage.
“Trusts will hardly have time to draw breath after a five-day walkout by junior doctors before consultants strike for two days, followed by a two-day strike by radiographers.
“The domino effect of repeated waves of industrial action is eroding the fundamental relationship between trust leaders and their staff.”
Ms. Cordery said NHS trusts will “continue to do everything they can to limit disruption and keep patients safe” but that’s “getting harder and more expensive with every strike as the cost of hiring cover grows, and with staff dissatisfaction increasing as disputes remain unresolved.”
‘Longest Single Walkout’
BMA leaders Dr. Robert Laurenson and Dr. Vivek Trivedi said the five-day junior doctors’ strike is the “longest single walkout by doctors in the NHS’s history.”The BMA leaders said the government’s refusal to talk with the union is “out of keeping with all norms of industrial action.”
“The complete inflexibility we see from the UK government today is baffling, frustrating, and ultimately destructive for everyone who wants waiting lists to go down and NHS staffing numbers to go up.”
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the union’s decision to go ahead with the strike was “disappointing.”
“We were in discussions about pay and a range of other measures to improve the working lives of junior doctors until their representatives collapsed the negotiations by announcing further strikes. A pay demand of 35 percent or more is unreasonable and risks fuelling inflation, which makes everyone poorer.”
Mr. Barclay said the government is willing to start talks again “if the BMA shows willingness to move significantly from their current pay demands” and cancels the strikes.
