2024-01-03 04:55:32
A difficult start to the year in England. THE junior doctorsdoctors with a status close to that of interns in France, started their six-day strike on Wednesday January 3, after three days of strike before Christmas and numerous other walkouts in recent months.
Stephen Powis, head of the National Health Service (NHS), the British public health system, called on patients not to give up care. This new strike comes at a time when the NHS is experiencing a hemorrhage of doctors and is struggling to reduce the gigantic waiting lists for patients. The strike is due to end next Tuesday.
English medical sector in crisis
The nearly 70,000 junior doctors are demanding salary increases, hardening their mobilization after the end-of-year holidays, due to lack of agreement reached with the government in the face of the crisis caused by inflation. The strike is due to end next Tuesday.
The English medical sector has been marked in recent months by a series of historic strikes by various categories of its staff, including for the first time nurses. The NHS was concerned about the consequences of this movement in the middle of winter, explaining that the “almost all routine care will be disrupted” with priority given to emergency care.
“This action will not only have a huge impact on planned care, but it comes on top of a range of seasonal pressures such as Covid, flu and staff absences due to illness, which are affecting the way patients are treated in hospitals »lamented Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, in a statement.
Wages down by almost a quarter since 2008
And junior doctor earns around 32,000 pounds sterling (€37,000) during his first year in office, notes the government. According to the BMA (British Medical Association) union, which counts 46,000 young doctors in its ranks, their salaries have fallen by almost a quarter since 2008, taking into account inflation.
The government negotiated for five weeks in the fall to try to resolve the situation before the tense winter period. He offered them a 3% salary increase at the beginning of December, in addition to the 8.8% average increase already granted this summer. But for the BMA union, “the government has not shown itself capable of presenting a credible offer on salaries”, with a proposal which, according to him, would not stop the decline in purchasing power.
“We spent the festive period hoping to receive the ‘final offer’ that the Minister of Health promised us last year. Unfortunately, this did not happen”regretted Wednesday the representatives of the young doctors committee of the BMA union, Robert Laurenson and Vivek Trivedi.
“We are ready to have further discussions, but the first thing to do is to end this strike,” a Downing Street spokesperson said on Tuesday, pointing out that 88,000 medical appointments were canceled during three days of strike action in December.
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