Junior doctors in England go on strike today – with a warning it will have an “enormous impact on routine care for patients”.
The fresh 72-hour walkout comes amid the threat of further strikes throughout the summer if the government doesn’t budge on its pay offer.
Here’s everything you need to know about when the strike is, why doctors are striking and how NHS care could be affected.
When is the strike?
Junior doctors will strike from 7am on Wednesday 14 June to 7am on Saturday 17 June – 72 hours in total.
Up to 47,600 junior doctors who are members of the British Medical Association (BMA) union will walk out.
What impact will this have on NHS care?
Almost all routine or pre-planned care could be impacted in some way, according to Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director.
He said thousands of routine procedures have already been rescheduled but called on people to attend appointments that have not been postponed.
In April, a similar walkout by junior doctors saw 196,000 hospital appointments and pre-planned operations rescheduled.
The strike “will have an enormous impact on routine care for patients and on the waiting list, as procedures can take time to rearrange with multiple teams involved”, Prof Powis said.
Emergency, urgent and critical care will be prioritised during the strike, he added.
Why are junior doctors striking?
The BMA called the government’s 5% pay offer “paltry” and said talks had become “unproductive”.
The union said junior doctors have suffered a “pay erosion” of 26% over the last 15 years as their wages have failed to keep up with inflation.
They have demanded a 35% pay rise to reverse this.
Four in ten junior doctors are looking to leave the NHS, according to the BMA, citing the current level of pay, deteriorating work conditions and pay erosion.
Is this the first time junior doctors have gone on strike – and will it be the last?
Junior doctors who are members of the BMA walked out for 96 hours from 11-15 April and for 72 hours from 13-15 March.
The BMA has threatened a summer of strikes if the government does not improve its offer.
“This means we will call a minimum of three days of action every month for the duration of our mandate for industrial action,” said Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairs of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee.
Junior doctors in England are striking – what about the rest of the UK?
Junior doctors in Scotland are set to strike for three days in July after rejecting a pay offer from the Scottish government.
The Welsh government has agreed to the principle of pay restoration for junior doctors in Wales, who have also seen a real-terms pay cut of 26.1%. But the terms of this have not been agreed and the BMA has said it will prepare for strike action if necessary.
In Northern Ireland, the BMA said in May it would survey its members on pay and conditions and ask what members would be willing to do to drive change.
What does ‘junior doctor’ mean?
A junior doctor is a qualified doctor who has graduated from medical school and is on a training pathway to become a specialist or a GP, according to the BMA.
Full-time training can take between five and 11 years – more if it is done part-time.
Junior doctors make up around 45% of the NHS’s medical workforce and two-thirds of them are members of the BMA.
Read more:
‘Enormous’ disruption feared as doctors in England plan multiple-day strike
NHS backlog plan ‘is working’, health secretary insists – after missing target to end 18-month waits
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‘We hugely value the contributions junior doctors make’ – health secretary
What has the government said about the latest strikes?
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has insisted that ministers’ doors remain open, but accused the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee of refusing to shift from its 35% pay demand, despite an intermediary being brought to negotiations.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Another three days of strikes by junior doctors will risk patient safety and lead to further disruption and postponed treatments.
“We made a fair and reasonable opening offer to the BMA and were in active discussions about both pay and non-pay issues.
“Unfortunately, it seems they are unwilling to move meaningfully away from unreasonable demands that would see doctors’ pay increase by either 35% this year, or at least 49% by next year, which were the two propositions they put on the table.
“We are working with NHS England to put in place contingency plans to protect patient safety. The NHS will prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care and trauma.”
