Thursday, June 27, 2024 -Junior hospital doctors in England on Thursday began a five-day strike, a week before a general election in which the state of the publicly funded National Health Service is a major issue.
It follows nearly a dozen similar actions by
doctors below the specialist, consultant level over the last 18 months.
The NHS is grappling with a massive backlog
caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and exacerbated by the repeated doctors’
strikes.
As well as delays to operations and starting
cancer treatment, an increasingly dissatisfied public also face long waits to
see a doctor at their local surgery.
A recent survey suggested that less than a
quarter of Britons were satisfied with the NHS, an unprecedented level.
The doctors have been asking for 35 percent “pay restoration” as a starting position amid a cost-of-living crisis.
They have said they will call off the action
if Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak comes to the table with a credible
commitment to increase their pay.
The strike will run until Tuesday, two days
before next Thursday’s general election which the main opposition Labour party
is expected to win.
Labour’s health spokesman Wes Streeting has
said any Labour government would not meet the 35 percent demand but that there
is “space for a discussion”.
Decades-high inflation in 2023 saw workers
from sectors across the economy stage walkouts from teachers to train drivers.
The government, quasi-public agencies and
private sector firms have resolved many of the other pay disputes, but some
remain outstanding, such as with the junior doctors.
Sunak’s government has said the doctors’
demands are unaffordable because of stretched public finances.
It has accused the strike organisers of being politically-motivated.
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