"Resident Doctors Launch Six-Day Strike in England, Citing Pay Dispute. In a move that is expected to significantly impact patient care, resident doctors in English hospitals have begun a six-day strike, marking the 15th such action since they launched a campaign in 2023 to restore their pay to pre-austerity levels. The dispute between the doctors and the government has escalated, with Health Secretary Wes Streeting accusing the British Medical Association (BMA), the doctors' union, of being responsible for the collapse of talks. However, the BMA has countered with claims that the government has not taken their demands seriously, particularly in regards to restoring pay to 2008 levels, which would require a significant investment of around £3 billion per year. As the strike gets underway, concerns are growing about the impact on patient care and the escalating cost of the dispute, which Streeting has estimated at £3 billion so far. But experts argue that this figure is a drop in the ocean compared to the estimated £30 billion per year needed to restore pay to pre-austerity levels for all NHS staff, a cost that could have far-reaching implications for the entire healthcare system."
The health secretary and the BMA trade accusations over who bears responsibility for the collapse of talksGood morning. Resident doctors in English hospitals started a six-day strike at 7am this morning. Many of them will continue to work, but there will be enough of them joining the strike to have a significant impact on the care hospitals can deliver. It is the 15th resident doctors (who used to be known as junior doctors) have been on stage since they launched a campaign in 2023 to get their pay back to the equivalent level it used to be before austerity kicked in after the financial crash.This morning Wes Streeting, the health secretary, deployed a new statistic in his PR battle against the BMA, the doctors’ union organised the strikes. He confirmed a figure highlighted in the Daily Mail’s splash saying strikes by resident doctors have now cost the country £3bn.We think that strikes cost £50m a day. And so that is, an accurate reflection of the cost of these strikes.What is true is that in order to deliver a full pay restoration back to 2008 levels, using the RPI account of inflation, it would cost in the order of £3bn a year.Let’s then assume that other NHS staff would understandably demand the same. Then that cost would be more like £30bn a year. That is more than the entire cost of the Ministry of Justice’s entire budget for running the criminal justice system. Continue reading...
