- The BMA has coordinated the three-day walkout, running from 7am this morning
- It previously demanded a 35% pay boost, while the Government has offered 12%
The union behind the junior doctors’ strike has been urged to ‘come back to the table’ and negotiate amid warnings their latest walkout has come at the ‘worst possible time’ for the health service.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has coordinated the three-day action, running from 7am this morning, in a bid for an even bigger pay rise than the 12 per cent already offered by the Government. It has previously demanded a 35 per cent boost.
Health leaders have warned that patients face being ‘stranded’ in hospitals over Christmas, while thousands of vital appointments and operations have been cancelled and A&E departments have been forced to close.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England, warned that the action has come at the ‘worst possible time of year’ when the health service is already overwhelmed by a surge in demand due to Covid, flu and norovirus.
Ministers this morning urged junior doctors to ‘come back to the table’ to negotiate with the Government.
Junior doctors today kicked off their 26th day of industrial action this year. The action will end at 7am on Saturday before a further six-day strike — the longest in NHS history — begins at 7am on January 3. Pictured: Junior doctors striking outside University College Hospital in London on December 12
The BMA has claimed that junior doctors have seen their pay eroded by 35 per cent in real terms over the past 15 years. Pictured: Junior doctors striking outside University College Hospital in London on December 12
NHS bosses had already warned that hospitals will operate at full capacity for just four weekdays until January 10. Only December 27, 28, 29 and January 2 are unaffected by the impending chaos of the holidays and walk-outs until January 10
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told the BMA to call off strikes to restart talks.
She said: ‘We know that despite these measures and the hard work of NHS staff, these strikes can cause significant disruption to patients and add extra pressure on the NHS.
‘My door remains open should the BMA junior doctors committee cancel these disruptive strikes and come back to the negotiating table as we were making good progress.’
Mel Stride, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, told LBC Radio: ‘What the junior doctors have got to do now – they’re the ones that have walked away from the table – is to come back to the table.
‘What they really should not be doing is putting people in these very difficult situations, over this very difficult period for the NHS when the pressure is that much more acute.
‘They’ve walked away, we have our door wide open to continue these discussions.
‘We’ve been making some progress, but they really should be coming back to the table now. It’s deeply disappointing that they’ve done what they’ve done.’
Junior doctors today kicked off their 26th day of industrial action this year. The action will end at 7am on Saturday before a further six-day strike — the longest in NHS history — begins at 7am on January 3.
It comes after talks between the medics and the Government broke down.
The Government had initially offered junior doctors an 8.8 per cent pay rise, on average, for the 2023/24 financial year. However, the uplift was higher for first year medics, who were given a 10.3 per cent boost.
Ministers insisted this was the final offer, despite weeks of devastating strikes by junior doctors staged since March.
But Ms Atkins, who took over from Steve Barclay last month, offered the medics an additional 3 per cent on top of this rise.
However, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, who co-chair the BMA’s junior doctor committee, said this sum was still ‘completely insufficient’ and have pressed ahead with fresh walkouts.
The BMA has claimed that junior doctors have seen their pay eroded by 35 per cent in real terms over the past 15 years.
The trainee medics have been demanding full pay restoration and have said they would not settle for anything less, although senior figures within the union have suggested they may compromise.
Ms Atkins has since said that the union walked away from the table before the Government presented its ‘final offer’.
Cheltenham General Hospital’s unit shut this morning until 8am on December 23 – shortly after the national three-day junior doctor strike ends
The British Medical Association (BMA) has coordinated the three-day walkout, running from 7am this morning, in a bid for an even bigger pay rise than the 12 per cent already offered by the Government. It has previously demanded a 35 per cent boost
Dr Robert Laurenson: The ‘militant’ junior doctor behind a series of crippling NHS strikes
Dr Robert Laurenson is co-chair of the BMA’s junior doctor committee, which has coordinated strikes among the medics
Dr Robert Laurenson is co-chair of the British Medical Association’s junior doctor committee, which has coordinated strikes among the medics.
He has claimed he is ‘constantly worrying’ about how to pay his bills while on a junior doctor salary.
However, he is also a director of his family’s investment firm and owns a £500,000 flat with no mortgage.
The junior doctors’ leader also sparked controversy earlier this year by swanning off to a friend’s wedding during the first junior doctors’ strike – while urging union members to sacrifice pay and take to picket lines.
The GP trainee works at Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, having taken a year out after his degree to work as a freelance doctor for ‘money and wellbeing’, according to his LinkedIn.
Dr Laurenson is listed alongside his parents and brothers as a director at Westholme Investments Limited.
The business holds over £2million of investments and previously ran a Surrey golf course described as ‘one of the finest’ in the county.
Dr Laurenson was made a director in 2013, a year after he began his medical degree at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.
It is understood he has no day-to-day duties with the firm and does not draw a salary or dividends and is not a shareholder.
He attended Sevenoaks School in Kent, one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the country which charges fees of up to £46,566 per year for sixth-formers.
Dr Laurenson and Dr Trivedi, said today: ‘It is extremely disappointing to be in this position. We had hoped that after a much-improved tone and approach from the new Health Secretary, Ms Atkins, we were close to a solution to this dispute.
‘We were encouraged by her insistence last week that even after our mutually agreed deadline had passed and we were forced to call new strikes, we had still not heard her “final offer”.
‘We have spent the last two weeks awaiting this final offer in the hope it would be the long-awaited credible offer we could put to our members. Unfortunately, we are still yet to hear it.’
The Government has refused to talk to unions when strikes are scheduled and the union has said they are ‘ready to speak at any point’ and called for this approach to be ditched.
Professor Powis warned that the strikes are hitting when hospitals are already battling winter pressures in the form of flu and Covid cases on the rise. ‘This is going to be a challenging period and we will see disruption once again,’ he said.
He said: ‘We want to keep patients safe, the BMA also stated they wish to keep patients safe, and we will be ensuring that we have a laser focus on ensuring our most urgent and emergency pathways are there.’
He added: ‘This will be a disruptive period – three days this week, six days – the longest period of strike action that we’ve seen – early in the new year.
‘Of course that’s after the new year festivities where we see activity growing, so it’s that second period of strike action in January that is giving us the most concern.’
Professor Powis said that he was ‘disappointed that negotiations broke down’ but said that deals reached with other doctor groups show that it is ‘possible to make progress’.
Due to strike pressures, Cheltenham A&E has been forced to close until 8am on December 23 — after the three-day junior doctor strike ends. It will close again from 8pm on January 1 until 8am on January 9, covering the next wave of action.
Patients in life-threatening conditions will be diverted 30 minutes to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital for emergency care.
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said the closure had ‘not been taken lightly’ and it would work closely with local partners to ensure those in ‘greatest need continue to have access to high quality care and support’.
Dr Ananthakrishnan Raghuram, chief medical officer at the trust, said: ‘We are sorry that many patients will experience disruption to services.’
Junior doctors in Wales are planning a 72-hour walkout from January 15, while doctors in training in Northern Ireland are being balloted for potential strike action. Those in Scotland have already come to an agreement with the Scottish government.
Consultant doctors from the BMA in England have reached a deal with the Government, with members currently voting whether or not to accept the deal.
Specialist, associate specialist and specialty doctors (SAS) in England have also come to an agreement, which is being put to members.
Strikes across the health service this year are estimated to have cost the NHS £2billion in lost income from delayed operations, scans and procedures and the cost of providing cover for striking staff.