Junior doctors vote ‘overwhelmingly’ for strike action – with 3 days planned next month

THOUSANDS of hospital doctors will join other NHS staff by going on strike.

Some 98 per cent of the 45,000 junior doctors balloted by the BMA voted to strike today in England, with medics planning to take action for 72 hours next month.

Almost 37,000 votes were cast, meaning this was the largest ever turnout for a ballot of doctors by the union.

It was also a record number of junior doctors voting for strike action.

The group last went on strike in 2016, when now-Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was Health Secretary.

Those strikes led to more than 3,000 operations being cancelled.

BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: “This vote shows, without a shadow of a doubt, the strength of feeling among most of England’s junior doctors. 

“We are frustrated, in despair and angry and we have voted in our thousands to say, ‘in the name of our profession, our patients, and our NHS, doctors won’t take it anymore’.”

Junior doctors will not provide emergency care during the planned action.

Dates for the three-day strikes have yet to be announced.

The union claims junior doctors — whose duties include ordering tests or X-rays, discharging patients and referring them to other teams — have faced a "real-terms pay cut of more than 26 per cent" since 2008.

It said this year's pay offer of 2 per cent was "insulting" and meant medics are "working more than a month for free" because of inflation.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive at NHS Providers said: “Trust leaders have been bracing themselves for the outcome of the BMA’s ballot of junior doctors.

"Today’s overwhelming vote in favour of industrial action has confirmed these fears.

“An unprecedented 72-hour strike next month is extremely worrying as the NHS battles to cope with the effects of the most widespread industrial action in its history."

The Department of Health said their pay has increased a cumulative 8.2 per cent since 2019/20, with higher pay bands introduced for more experienced staff.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: "We hugely value the work of junior doctors and it is deeply disappointing some union members have voted for strike action.

"I’ve met with the BMA and other medical unions to discuss what is fair and affordable, as well as wider concerns around conditions and workload.

"I want to continue discussing how we can make the make the NHS a better place to work for all."

Earlier, Professor Philip Banfield, BMA chair of council, said Rishi Sunak and Mr Barclay are "standing on the precipice of an historic mistake";.

He said: “Doctors have never experienced so much stress, so much moral injury from not being able to undertake the care that they're so desperate to give.

“This government’s silence and disregard for our highly skilled workforce is consciously and deliberately overseeing the demise of the NHS at a point when it is needed most.”

Speaking at a young doctors' conference in Bristol, Professor Banfield, said refusing to enter meaningful negotiations with unions means the Government is "guaranteeing escalation".

Professor Bandfield said thinking they can stay silent and wait it out is "reckless".

It comes after ambulance staff from 10 trusts across England downed tools this morning.

The GMB said more than 11,000 of its members walked out in England and Wales, including paramedics, emergency care assistants and call handlers.

The union said members in the North East and North West only guaranteed cover for Category 1 calls — defined as “immediately life threatening” — during their action.

Ambulance workers in the Unite union in parts of the country were also on strike.

Mr Barclay said: “Strikes are in nobody’s best interests and only cause further disruption for patients, despite contingency measures in place.

“It is time unions engage constructively with the Pay Review Body process for 2023/24 and cancel strikes so we can move forward and continue tackling the Covid backlog.

“I’ve been clear throughout that I remain keen to keep talking to unions about what is fair and affordable for the coming financial year.”