This is why and when doctors will be on strike
Resident doctors in England are set to take strike action soon. Here is everything you need to know about the dispute.
Why are resident doctors going on strike?
The resident doctors strike is a result of a dispute over two issues.
The first is pay. The BMA argues that resident doctors have experienced a real terms pay cut of 21 per cent since 2008/9. This is due to pay awards given to resident doctors over that time being below inflation. The BMA is now calling for pay restoration for resident doctors. As such, they’re demand is a 26 per cent pay raise.
The second issue relates to training places for resident doctors. After completing their first two years as a foundation doctor, residents go on to train in specialities – like neurology or surgery. The BMA argues that there are currently an insufficient number of training places for resident doctors to go into. According to the BMA, there have been as many as 30,000 doctors applying for around 10,000 places and that this both stunts the careers of doctors and reduces the ability for the NHS to reduce waiting lists.
What has the government said in response to the strikes?
On the training places dispute, the health secretary Wes Streeting has said the government will introduce an additional 2,000 training places by 2028, with 1,000 of them being added next year. The current pay offer from the government is for an average pay rise of 4 per cent plus a consolidated £750 payment.
The BMA has said that if a 4 per cent pay rise were awarded annual to resident doctors, it would take them 32 years to achieve pay restoration. Streeting, however, has accused the BMA of ‘trying to hold the NHS and our country to ransom’.
When are resident doctors going on strike?
Resident doctors will be on strike from Friday 14 November to Wednesday 19 November. This will likely lead to widespread cancellation of treatment across England.
Will resident doctors in Scotland and Wales also be on strike?
Currently, BMA members will only be taking strike action in England.
However, resident doctors in Scotland are currently being balloted on whether to take industrial action over a pay dispute in Scotland, where the BMA claims that pay has fallen 17 per cent in real terms since 2008.
Meanwhile, in Wales resident doctors will be voting in a referendum on whether to accept a pay offer between 24 November and 15 December
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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