'We'll strike every month until next spring if we have to' - hundreds of doctors take to the streets of Manchester
The war within the NHS wears on, as strikes pass the sixth month mark. Paramedics, nurses, physiotherapists, hospital staff have all walked out over the course of the last year.
The government calls the BMA’s demand for ‘pay restoration’ - a hike of 35 per cent - ‘unreasonable’, offering a five per cent rise instead. Meanwhile, the BMA continues to be firm in its message that the 35 per cent would only return their pay to its 2008 levels. Chants of “cuts don’t pay the bills” were also heard. And amid a huge gulf between the government’s offer and the doctors’ expectations, strikes could continue every month until March 2024, warns the BMA.
“But if the government continues to act in bad faith, as they have repeatedly in the past, we are preparing for further strike action and actually are making preparations to re-ballot our members to extend our strike mandate.” But the failure to reach an agreement has even caused frustration among more senior NHS staff, including consultants, who have shared exasperation at both sides with the M.E.N. Yet, despite numerous gatherings around the negotiation table, the refrain remains the same.
“As much as we learn from managing each action every time it happens, it creates risk and upheaval and distracts from our priorities, particularly elective recovery. Over half a million appointments have already had to be rescheduled. Many of those people will have been waiting months. Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “The suggestion that junior doctors could strike regularly over consecutive days every month for a year or more will be extremely worrying to healthcare leaders. If further industrial action is also co-ordinated with strikes by consultant doctors, should they announce they have a mandate, then patient safety will be put at further risk.
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