BY JAMES SIMONS.
Up to 10,000 junior doctors have reported for duty out of 26,000 scheduled to work the day shift, it has been reported.
Junior doctors in England are staging a 24-hour walkout, which began at 08:00 in a dispute over a new contract. The strike, according to the BMA is designed to send a “clear message” to the government.
“Junior doctors in their thousands have made it quite clear what they think of the government’s plans to impose contracts in which junior doctors have no confidence,” said Dr Johann Malawana, chair of the British Medical Association junior doctors’ committee.
“We deeply regret the level of disruption caused, but this is a fight for the long-term safety of patients and junior doctors’ working lives.”
More than 3,000 operations have been cancelled with several hundreds more affected. Mr Hunt said the number that had gone into work showed “the values of the vast majority of junior doctors”.
“In the end this is a completely unnecessary dispute,” he said.
“We have some disagreements with the BMA over pay. But we all want to promise every patient who uses the NHS the promise of the same high-quality care every day of the week.
“And at the moment we have an NHS where if you have a stroke at the weekends, you’re 20% more likely to die. That can’t be acceptable.”
However, what is really unacceptable is the government’s reluctance to raise the pay of hardworking doctors and give them the contract they want. Talks began in 2014 but later broke down after ministers offered an insufficient 11%rise in basic pay, failing to take into account unsociable hours spent working by doctors. When the union balloted its members in the autumn, 98% voted to back strike action. Doctors play an invaluable role in society, and should therefore be giving the pay rise they deserve. The government should stop being tight.
