Junior doctors to strike for five days next month in ‘longest single period of industrial action in history of NHS’

JUNIOR doctors in England will be on strike for five days next month.

According to the British Medical Association, it is believed to be the longest single industrial action in NHS history.

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As confirmed today, the strike over wages and staffing will begin at 7am on July 13th.

A BMA spokesman said: “We will not give up until the young doctors are paid fairly.”

dr Robert Laurenson and Dr. Vivek Trivedi, co-chair of the Young Doctors Committee, added: “It has been almost a week since the last round of strikes ended, but we have not once heard from Rishi Sunak or Steve Barclay in terms of resuming the strike Negotiations heard.” since our talks broke down and all scheduled meetings were canceled a month ago.

“What better indication could we have of how committed they are to ending this dispute?”

“As their refusal to even talk about a pay reinstatement leads to ongoing disruption to healthcare, more than four in five young doctors say they find their patients supportive – they understand the value of a fully resourced NHS.”

“We are announcing the longest single strike by doctors in the history of the NHS – but it’s not a record to go down in the history books.”

“Even now, the government can avert our action by presenting a credible offer of wage recovery.”

The federation had previously said it would not settle for less than a 35 per cent pay rise but now accepts that it will be lower.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay insisted it was in his interest to settle the dispute but said there had to be “movement on both sides”.

The BMA’s latest round of strikes, which took place last week, resulted in almost 33,000 hospital appointments and procedures being canceled in London alone, for a total of 100,000.

In the capital – the hardest-hit region – an average of 4,566 doctors had to stop working.

Industrial action has had to postpone more than 650,000 routine surgeries and appointments in England since December, according to NHS Providers.

Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy, said: “This affects all already overwhelmed hospitals, ambulances, mental health and community services.”

“Strikes cannot become day-to-day business for foundations and patients.”

“Trusts have had to deal with disruptive and demoralizing labor disputes across the NHS for seven consecutive months and leaders are working hard to prepare for a possible eighth month.”

“Trust Leaders and their staff continue to do everything possible to cushion the impact of strikes, with patient safety as a top priority, but are concerned about the long-term impact on patients whose care is slowing down at a time when waiting lists are long. delays are already at record levels, the impact on employee morale and the rising cost of providing insurance coverage.

“While ministers and the doctors’ union are silent, patients are paying the price for the standoff.”

Today’s announcement comes as a BMA survey found that young doctors report having been offered more opportunities to go abroad in the last four months than ever before.

Just over half of the almost 2,000 respondents said they had received more job advertisements from recruiters for jobs abroad since the strikes were confirmed.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said he was “extremely disappointed”.

“At the government’s meeting with young doctors, we made a fair and reasonable opening offer,” they added.

“We discussed both wage and non-wage issues. But they decided to end the talks by announcing new strike dates.”

“Of course, if they break off the damaging and disruptive attacks and show a willingness to deviate from their starting positions and find a way forward, we will be able to continue these talks.”