Doctors’ walk-out put paid to 2,133 hospital appointments
NHS REVEALS THE IMPACT OF ‘BURNT-OUT’ JUNIOR MEDICS’ 72 HOURS OF STRIKES
MORE than 2,000 hospital appointments had to be cancelled at Leicester hospitals because of industrial action.
Hundreds of junior doctors in Leicestershire took part in a 72-hour national walk-out from Tuesday, April 11, to Saturday, April 15, over a pay dispute with the government.
According to NHS England, 2,133 hospital appointments were cancelled locally as a result of the walkout. The four-day action also caused the cancellation of 165 surgery procedures that had been scheduled in advance.
Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) have said strikes took place because the wage for junior doctors has fallen by 26 per cent in real terms since 2008, and that pay restoration is needed. They are asking for a pay rise of 35 per cent.
Tal Ellenbogen, 28, a junior doctor at Leicester Royal Infirmary and
BMA East Midlands representative, said last month: “The government have pushed us into striking. We have had a 26 per cent real terms pay cut.
“We’re not doing 26 per cent less work, not seeing 26 per cent fewer patients. This is why so many people are leaving the NHS due to the pay cuts.
“We’re burnt-out on levels never seen before. Patients are not getting the care they deserve or that we aspire to deliver to them. We’ve been ignored by the government and have been pushed into this.”
Junior doctors make up 45 per cent of the medical workforce in England, and can range from people fresh out of medical school to brain surgeons who have been in training for more than 10 years. Any doctor
who is not of GP, consultant or associate specialist status is classified as “junior”.
NHS England figures also reveal that more than 700 University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust staff members were absent from work on Wednesday, April 12, due to involvement in the strike action. The figure was the highest number of absent staff across the four strike days.
Nationally, more than 196,00 hospital appointments were cancelled because of the strike.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has called the news “deeply disappointing”.
He added: “We remain ready to start formal talks with the BMA as soon as the union pauses its strikes and moves significantly from its unrealistic position of demanding a 35 per cent pay increase, which would result in some junior doctors receiving a pay rise of £20,000.”
In response, Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, BMA junior doctors committee co-chairmen, said in a statement: “Mr Barclay continues to demand that we drop our opening position of calling for a reversal of the pay erosion experienced by junior doctors before he will even enter discussions.
“This does not sound like someone who understands the pay pressures junior doctors are under, nor someone who wants to sit down with us.”