Junior doctors strike in England

Hospitals across England are expected to face major disruption with up to 4,000 routine operations cancelled. The doctors will provide emergency cover only during the 24-hour walkout, which got under way at 08:00 GMT.

NHS England has said that plans are in place to protect patients but David Cameron issued a last minute warning that the strike would put patients at risk. He said that the walkout could cause “real difficulties for patients and potentially worse”.

Sandwell Hospital in West Bromwich has declared a “level four” incident and yesterday told its junior doctors to report for work as usual due to concerns about patient safety, but they have refused to do so.

‘Unsafe’

A letter from to the hospital’s medical director Dr Roget Stedman to junior doctors, dated 11 January, says: “I have reviewed the situation this afternoon and I believe that given the situation and staffing levels, it would be unsafe to deliver care to all our in-patients with a reduced workforce tomorrow… all junior doctors proving ward-based care at SGH need to attend work tomorrow, Tuesday 12th January.”

Dr Stedman said in a statement: “Over the last two days we have had very high numbers of patients come to hospital, and fewer than usual discharged. Because of that we decided to require trainee doctors allocated to ward work to attend Sandwell during today’s strike.”

But the British Medical Association said junior doctors should not return to work unless NHS England declared a “major, unpredictable incident” had taken place at an NHS trust.

The row centres on a new contract which the government says will increase doctors’ pay by 11 per cent, but at the same time curb payments doctors currently receive for working unsociable hours on the weekends and in the evenings.

Currently doctors are paid a premium to work on Saturday and Sunday, however under the new contract these will be classed as normal working days.

Seven-day NHS

The government says the changes are needed to create more seven-days services, but the BMA warns safeguards to keep a lid on excessive hours are being weakened.

The union balloted its members in the autumn, and 98 per cent of those who voted backed strike action. Talks broke down as far back as 2014 but the dispute escalated after the Government said it would impose the contract if junior doctors.

There are more than 50,000 junior doctors in England – a position covering people who have just graduated from medical school through to those with more than a decade of experience.

Just over 37,000 are members of the BMA and voted overwhelmingly for a strike in a ballot last year. GP surgeries will be largely unaffected, while ambulances services will be working as usual.