Junior doctors walk out in longest strike in NHS history

Thousands of junior doctors have taken strike action today, in the longest-ever walkout in the history of the NHS.

The strike action is being carried out in hopes of securing a better ‘real term’ pay deal for junior doctors.  Junior doctors are clinically trained doctors who have between one and nine years of experience. But unions claim some of these medical professionals are only earning £15.50 an hour.

The industrial action will occur across six days – making it the longest single-strike action since the NHS began.

BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: 

“Doctors would have liked to start the new year with the hope of an offer on pay that would lead to a better-staffed health service and a better-valued profession.

“Morale across the health service is at an all-time low. 15 years of pay erosion have meant a 26% real terms pay cut for an increasingly undervalued workforce who are overstretched and left yet again to carry the burden of years of neglect and decline this Government has overseen.

“This strike marks another unhappy record for the NHS – the longest single walkout in its history. But as we have said all along, there is no need for any records to fall: we can call off this strike now if we get an offer from the Government that we can put to members.”

According to reports, the government gave junior doctors an 8.8% pay rise last summer, with an extra 3% offered during the last round of negotiations towards the end of the year.

But the BMA said it rejected the 3% offer because it does not make up for a real-term pay cut of nearly a quarter for junior doctors since 2008. Instead, they are calling for:

• Full pay “restoration” to reverse real-term cuts in pay since 2008/9;
• A new pay mechanism to prevent any future pay decreases against inflation and the cost of living;
• A reformed Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body for independent and fair pay recommendations for staff to “safeguard recruitment and retention of junior doctors”.

First-year doctors on 2016 contracts get paid £32,398 a year – while those on the previous 2002 contract earned £28,274, according to the BMA website.

The strike action will take place from 7am on the 3rd January to 7am on the 9th January 2024.

What will be affected?

According to reports, routine hospital services, planned operations and check-ups will be disrupted by the strike action. David Probert, Chief Executive of University College London Hospitals, said the ‘vast majority’ of routine appointments at his trust would have to be cancelled as senior doctors are being moved across to provide cover in emergency care.

Some A&E departments will not be able to continue running, and there is concern for urgent areas of cancer care and maternity services.

What disruption has been caused so far?

It is thought that over the past year, 1.2 million appointments and treatments have had to be cancelled due to NHS strike action. It has been estimated to have cost more than £ 2 billion in planning, preparation and paying for cover.

Further reading

Medical Misdiagnosis or Delay – Oakwood Solicitors

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