Junior doctors in England have escalated their industrial action on Wednesday, commencing their largest strike yet, which hospitals warned could jeopardize emergency care provision during one of the busiest times of the year.
The British Medical Association (BMA), representing approximately 50,000 junior doctors, announced that its members will go on strike for three days, and then again for six days from Jan. 3 to 9, as part of an ongoing dispute over pay.
Cheltenham General Hospital stated that it would shut its accident and emergency department due to “the very challenging environment,” while hospital leaders in London made an urgent plea for the public to strictly use A&E services for “real emergencies only.”
Junior doctors terminated negotiations with the government after being presented with a pay raise of 8% to 10%. They are demanding a 35% increase, which they argue is necessary to offset the impact of inflation over several years.
British Health Minister Victoria Atkins mentioned that substantial contingency measures had been implemented to minimize disruption and indicated that the door was still open for the BMA to return to the bargaining table.
Hospital leaders emphasized that the six-day strike in January would be the longest in the history of Britain’s National Health Service, and pointed out that the timing of the two walk-outs in quick succession over the Christmas break presented significant challenges.
“The latest round of strikes at the busiest time of the year will bring substantial challenges to the local NHS, particularly hospital services,” stated Ananthakrishnan Raghuram, the chief medical officer of the group which runs Cheltenham’s hospital.
Industrial action within the NHS has led to the cancellation of 1.2 million operations and appointments this year, impeding British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s efforts to reduce waiting lists, a major priority for his administration.
The government has reached new pay agreements with other healthcare workers, including nurses and senior doctors, in recent months, averting the threat of strikes from those groups, but the dispute with junior doctors continues.
“I think it’s deeply regrettable that they’ve walked away from these talks,” remarked Britain’s Work and Pensions Minister Mel Stride in an interview with Times Radio on Wednesday.
(Additional reporting by Farouq Suleiman; Editing by Kate Holton)
