LONDON —
Thousands of doctors walked off the job in Britain on Wednesday at the start of a six-day strike that will be the longest in the history of the National Health Service.
Tens of thousands of scheduled appointments and operations will be canceled during the strike of resident doctors – those who are starting their profession – in England and Wales, according to service managers. The doctors, who form the backbone of hospital and clinical care, plan to continue the strike until 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
Senior doctors and other professionals have been mobilized to cover emergency, intensive care and maternity services.
Julian Hartley, chief executive of the health management organization NHS Providers, noted that the strike comes at one of the most difficult times of the year for the public health service, “immediately after the Christmas and New Year period due to the demand pressure, and of course the flu and COVID.”
“So the impact on patients will be significant,” he added.
Britain has had a year of continuous strikes across the healthcare sector, demanding pay rises to meet the costs of living. The union noted that wages, especially in the public sector, have declined in real terms over the past decade, and double-digit inflation is expected in late 2022 and early 2023, fueled by rising food and energy prices. , left many workers struggling with bills.
The union noted that newly qualified doctors earn 15.53 pounds ($19.37) an hour — the minimum wage in Britain is just over 10 pounds ($12) an hour — although salaries rise rapidly after the first anus.
At a protest outside St Thomas’ Hospital in central London, Dr Georgia Blackwell, 28, said stress and low pay were driving many doctors to take jobs abroad.
“Many doctors are moving to Australia, not only because of the salary, but also because the work-life balance is better,” he said.
The strikes have tested the already overwhelmed public health system, which is still trying to recover from delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Nurses, ambulance staff and senior doctors have reached pay deals with the government, but the union representing residents rejected the proposals and negotiations have stalled. The government says it will not hold further talks unless the strike is called off, while the union says it will not negotiate unless it receives a “credible” offer.
The union noted that the pay of resident doctors has been cut by more than a third since 2008.
“We don’t want the idea that we are bent on calling strikes,” said Dr. Vivek Trivedi, co-chair of the British Medical Association’s Resident Doctors Committee. “What we want is to negotiate an offer that we can present to our members and that they can accept.”
2024-01-03 10:03:09
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