Doctors begin five days of strikes in England
Hello and welcome to our rolling UK political coverage, with this morning’s headlines dominated by new industrial action hitting the NHS.
Resident doctors in England have begun strike action after the British Medical Association and government failed to reach an agreement over pay restoration.
Up to 50,000 people went on strike at 7am, with the action intended to last for five days until 7am on Wednesday 30 July.
The public have been urged to keep coming forward for NHS care during the strike. GP surgeries are open as usual and urgent care and A&E will continue to be available, alongside 111, NHS England said.
Keir Starmer made a last-minute appeal to resident doctors, saying the strikes would “cause real damage”.
The health secretary, West Streeting, had warned that the industrial action “enormously undermines the entire trade union movement”.
In an article for the Guardian on Thursday, Streeting said the decision by the BMA to push for new strikes immediately after receiving a pay rise of 22% to cover 2023-24 and 2024-25 was unreasonable and unprecedented.
We’ll bring you all the latest news on the strike, and other political stories, throughout the day.
Key events
Here are some images from the strikes this morning…
Striking doctors say their demand is simple – restore pay to 2008 levels.
Dr Ryan said: “We want to be paid fairly and we want an excuse to stay in the NHS and do what we enjoy, which is looking after patients.”
She argued that doctors have seen the worst pay erosion across the public sector and said: “Doctors should not need to subsidise the NHS with their wages.”
Dr Ryan apologised to patients for the disruption caused by the strike, saying: “It really is disruptive – and I’m sorry for that.”
But she added: “I apologise to patients every day because the NHS isn’t giving them the service they deserve.”
“We’re under-doctored and understaffed. And that’s a political choice not to fund this properly.
“We need a government that will invest in the NHS, not only for me, but also for the patients.”
Dr Melissa Ryan, co-chairwoman of the BMA’s UK resident doctors committee, told the PA news agency that rising living costs are forcing many doctors into debt.
She said a first-year doctor with £80,000-100,000 of student debt can expect to lose 9% of their salary for life repaying it.
“We work long nights and unsociable hours, get flung around the country, and still some of us struggle to pay rent,” she said.
“That’s because our pay has been eroded by 21% since 2008 – it’s like working one day a week for free.”
Around 15 doctors and supporters are gathered on Westminster Bridge, near the entrance to St Thomas’ Hospital, as the latest round of NHS strike action gets under way.
Some are holding placards reading “£18.62/hour is not a fair wage for a resident doctor”, and “Pay doctors, not PPP.”
Others have printed out an old tweet by health secretary Wes Streeting accusing the previous government of failing to prevent strikes, PA reported.
One man is standing beside the striking doctors, selling copies of The Socialist newspaper to passers-by.
Chants of “What do we want? Fair pay. When do we want it? Now” echo across the bridge.
The Conservatives have accused Labour of having “opened the door” to fresh resident doctors’ strikes with a “spineless surrender to union demands last year”.
Shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew said: “They handed out inflation-busting pay rises without reform, and now the BMA are back for more.
“They are disrupting care, ignoring patients and gambling with lives.
“This is a betrayal of the NHS and those who rely on it.
“The public deserves hospitals where the doctors are on the frontline rather than the picket line.
“But every day Labour refuses to stand up to union overreach, Britain moves closer to a health service run on the unions’ terms rather than the patients’.”
Here is an account of the situation on the ground from a consultant, raising concerns about patient safety as a result of the strikes…
It is hard to believe that, yet again, we are going into industrial action by our resident (formerly junior) doctors. It has only been a year since the last round of strikes and the length of this one – five days at two weeks’ notice over the summer when people are away – is designed to send a message.
Consultants were, by and large, supportive of the previous rounds of strikes. There is a recognition our residents have it harder than we did. There is more financial hardship than there used to be, their salaries don’t go as far as ours did when we were training, and they have amassed more student debt.
In addition, they have to pay many thousands of pounds in General Medical Council registration and compulsory conference and examination fees that are nowhere near covered by their shrinking study budgets – this always seemed outrageous while I was training too. Consequently, most consultants were pleased when residents received their 22% pay award last year. It felt like a step in the right direction.
This time, however, it feels different. There seems to be almost no discussion about the strikes, other than around how we cover them. Most of us are worried about being seen as unsupportive; we know our residents talk to one another and we might get a reputation if we say what we really think.
In the conversations I have had, however, the feeling is that it is too soon to go again and there is little hope of any further awards on pay at this stage. There is no question that consultant support for this round of strikes is much lower than previously.
Read the full piece here:
Resident doctors’ pay has fallen behind 2010-11 levels, report finds
Rachel Hall
Pay for resident doctors has fallen by 4% to 10% since 2010-11, independent analysis finds, as staff prepare to strike on Friday.
The analysis by the health thinktank Nuffield Trust falls considerably below the estimate from the British Medical Association (BMA), which claims doctors’ pay has fallen by 21% since 2008-09, a time frame just two years longer.
The BMA is seeking a 29% rise for resident doctors to grant what it considers to be full pay restoration – a demand the health secretary, Wes Streeting, has called “completely unreasonable” after he gave a 22% rise last year for 2023-24 and 2024-25.
The Nuffield Trust noted the earnings estimate can change considerably depending on which baseline year, inflation measure and pay dataset is used. It considers its method to be the most robust, as earnings data collection changed in 2010, and the Office for National Statistics discourages the use of the retail price index (RPI) to represent inflation, in favour of the consumer price index (CPI), which is typically lower.
The report’s authors said: “A shortage of independent analysis has meant that much of the debate has been based on flawed figures. All too often, true levels of inflation have been misrepresented, basic pay conflated with total pay, starting pay presented as average pay, whereas affordability arguments often do not recognise that some additional pay is returned to the public purse in taxes.”
A BMA spokesperson said the analysis proves that “whatever measure you use, doctors’ pay has fallen over the last 15 years and more”.
Louise Stead, group chief executive of Ashford and St Peter’s and Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trusts, was asked about NHS trusts refusing catch-up shifts for striking doctors and fellow consultants, which enables them to earn extra cash.
It has been suggested the NHS England move to keep as much pre-planned care going as possible means there will be fewer catch-up shifts needed, and therefore doctors will not be able to top up their pay.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
There is a finite amount of money. We’ve been told very clearly that we need to manage within the budget we’ve got, and we do need to try and make sure that we reduce the waiting list, which I think you’ll see have come down, so we will not be having the resources in order to do a massive amount of catch-up lists. We absolutely won’t.
It will be around re-diverting resources we’ve got in a different way, making the best decision we can.
Asked if she was not going to be prepared to pay extra, because the money simply is not there, she said:
Absolutely.
Louise Stead, group chief executive of Ashford and St Peter’s and Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trusts, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that around 500 appointments were being rescheduled but most work was continuing.
She said:
We’ve got about 500 appointments over the five days so far taken down, but we are continuing to do about 96% of the work we’ve had planned.
We have obviously become pretty adept at trying to plan for these (strikes), but it’s not something any of us want to do. And it’s not just actually planning for today.
It’s the knock-on effect of the ongoing weeks where you have to reschedule appointments. And I think that’s what’s going to make a difference every time. That’s what makes a difference to people’s perception, because their appointments have changed.
Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, told the PA news agency health staff will be working “flat out” to see as many patients as they can during the strike, after NHS England made clear it wants as much pre-planned care as possible to continue.
He said:
Striking doctors should think carefully if they are really doing the right thing for patients, for the NHS and for themselves.
The strike will throttle hard-won progress to cut waiting lists, but NHS trust leaders and staff will be working flat out to see that as many patients as possible get the care they need.
Sir Keir Starmer has made a last-minute appeal to resident doctors, saying the strikes would “cause real damage”.
“The route the BMA Resident Doctors Committee have chosen will mean everyone loses. My appeal to resident doctors is this: do not follow the BMA leadership down this damaging road. Our NHS and your patients need you,” he wrote in The Times.
He added:
Most people do not support these strikes. They know they will cause real damage.
Behind the headlines are the patients whose lives will be blighted by this decision. The frustration and disappointment of necessary treatment delayed. And worse, late diagnoses and care that risks their long-term health.
It’s not fair on patients. It’s not fair on NHS staff who will have to step in for cover for those taking action. And it is not fair on taxpayers.
These strikes threaten to turn back the clock on progress we have made in rebuilding the NHS over the last year, choking off the recovery.
What does the BMA say?
The BMA argues that resident doctors have seen their pay fall by a much greater amount in real terms since 2008-09 than the rest of the population.
“Doctors are not worth less than they were 17 years ago, when austerity policies began driving wages down. We’re simply asking for that value to be restored,” it said.
The BMA has taken out national newspaper advertisements highlighting the pay difference between a resident doctor with two years of experience, who earns £18.62 per hour, and their non-medically qualified assistants, earning £24.
The BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, said:
Pay erosion has now got to the point where a doctor’s assistant can be paid up to 30% more than a resident doctor. That’s going to strike most of the public that use the NHS as deeply unfair.
Streeting: Resident doctors’ strike undermines union movement
Peter Walker
As we previously mentioned, health secretary Wes Streeting has argued the strike by resident doctors “enormously undermines the entire trade union movement”.
In an article for the Guardian, the health secretary says the decision by the British Medical Association (BMA) to push for new strikes in England immediately after receiving a pay rise of 22% to cover 2023-24 and 2024-25 is unreasonable and unprecedented.
Taking aim squarely at the leadership of the BMA, which represents the medics formerly known as junior doctors, Streeting condemns their demand for a fresh 29% rise over the next few years. He says that while there was 90% backing for the strike, it was on a turnout of just over 55% of members.
Streeting says the move to strike after the offer of a 5.4% pay rise for 2025-26, was rushed into and is “bitterly disappointing” amid efforts to improve NHS services.
He writes:
There was a deal here to be done. Instead, the BMA leadership’s decision to not even consider postponing these strikes will place an enormous burden on their colleagues, and hit the recovery we can all see our health service is making.
Not only that, it enormously undermines the entire trade union movement. No trade union in British history has seen its members receive a such a steep pay rise only to immediately respond with strikes – even when a majority of their members didn’t even vote to strike. This action is unprecedented, and it is unreasonable.
You can read the full news story here:
And you can read his full column here:
Doctors begin five days of strikes in England
Hello and welcome to our rolling UK political coverage, with this morning’s headlines dominated by new industrial action hitting the NHS.
Resident doctors in England have begun strike action after the British Medical Association and government failed to reach an agreement over pay restoration.
Up to 50,000 people went on strike at 7am, with the action intended to last for five days until 7am on Wednesday 30 July.
The public have been urged to keep coming forward for NHS care during the strike. GP surgeries are open as usual and urgent care and A&E will continue to be available, alongside 111, NHS England said.
Keir Starmer made a last-minute appeal to resident doctors, saying the strikes would “cause real damage”.
The health secretary, West Streeting, had warned that the industrial action “enormously undermines the entire trade union movement”.
In an article for the Guardian on Thursday, Streeting said the decision by the BMA to push for new strikes immediately after receiving a pay rise of 22% to cover 2023-24 and 2024-25 was unreasonable and unprecedented.
We’ll bring you all the latest news on the strike, and other political stories, throughout the day.
