The “junior doctors”doctors in training or internships, began a six-day strike this Wednesday in Englandthe longest in the history of British public health system, to obtain an improvement in their salaries.
These doctors, who had already stopped for three days before Christmas, after having staged other strikes in recent months, decided to adopt a new pressure measure after the lack of agreement with the conservative government.
This new fighting movement comes at a time when the public health system, andhe NHS (National Health Service) is overwhelmed by gigantic waiting lists.
According to the British government, 88,000 medical appointments were canceled during the three days of strike in December and The Times newspaper put the number of consultations that will be affected by this new movement at 200,000.
The newspaper also puts the number of canceled appointments at one million due to the strikes called so far by junior doctors.
“There will be no more doctors” if the Government does not agree to increase salaries, said Hamish Bain, a 30-year-old doctor, who was part of a strike picket in front of the Saint-Thomas hospital, in central London, on Wednesday.
The young doctor added that several of his colleagues had emigrated to Australia and the United States due to low salaries.
The strike of the 'junior doctors', about 70,000 in England, began at 07:00 (local time and GMT) on Wednesday and will end next Tuesday at the same time.
JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
Only in England
This latest fighting movement only affects England.
Health policy is a competence transferred to the administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Irelandwhile the British government has under its guardianship England.
In Wales, junior doctors have announced a 72-hour strike starting January 15, while professionals in Northern Ireland have also voted in favor of a possible strike and their Scottish counterparts have reached an agreement with the Edinburgh government.
“January is the busiest time of year for the NHS, so these strikes will have a huge impact on our health system,” Health Minister Victoria Atkins criticized on Wednesday.
The British government on Tuesday expressed its willingness to continue negotiating.
“We are willing to have further talks, but obviously the first thing we need to do is stop striking,” said a spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
According to the British government, A 'junior doctor' earns around £32,000 ($40,640) during his first year of training.
Long negotiations
“After five weeks of intense negotiations, the government has not shown itself capable of presenting a credible salary offer,” explained the doctors' union BMA (British Medical Association) in early December in the statement announcing this new strike movement. .
According to the BMA, to which around 46,000 'junior doctors' are affiliated, their salaries have fallen by almost a quarter since 2008.
Junior doctors were offered a 3% rise, in addition to the 8.8% increase already granted a few months ago, but, according to the BMA union, these proposals are not enough to cope with the increase in the cost of living in the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom has experienced several strikes since mid-2022 due to the purchasing power crisis. Inflation, long stuck above 10%, stood at 3.9% year-on-year in November.
AFP
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