[ Junior doctors in Britain began a four-day strike over pay on
Tuesday that is likely to cause unprecedented disruption to the
state-funded National Health Service (NHS), prompting the government
to warn of a risk to patient safety.]
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DOCTORS IN BRITAIN GO ON FOUR-DAY STRIKE  
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Sachin Ravikumar
April 11, 2023
Reuters
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_ Junior doctors in Britain began a four-day strike over pay on
Tuesday that is likely to cause unprecedented disruption to the
state-funded National Health Service (NHS), prompting the government
to warn of a risk to patient safety. _

Junior doctors hold placards during a strike, amid a dispute with the
government over pay, outside St Thomas' Hospital, in London, Britain
April 11, 2023., REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska

 

Tens of thousands of junior doctors — qualified physicians who make
up nearly half of the medical workforce — are striking for pay rises
better aligned with inflation, in a walkout that follows a three-day
doctors' strike
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month.

"This latest round of strikes will see unparalleled levels of
disruption, and we are very concerned about the potential severity of
impact on patients and services across the country," NHS England
National Medical Director Stephen Powis said.

"We've also asked (hospitals) to reschedule procedures and outpatients
as quickly as possible but this will take weeks to recover from,"
Powis told BBC Radio, adding that the NHS was working to ensure
emergency services were kept intact.

The chief of the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations
across the healthcare sector, told Sky News he expected up to 350,000
appointments to be cancelled during the four-day strike.

The strike is the latest to involve NHS staff, following walkouts by
nurses, paramedics and others demanding rises that better reflect
annual inflation running at more than 10%.

It comes as the NHS experiences one of its most severe crises in its
75-year-history, overwhelmed with some 7 million patients waiting for
hospital treatment, severely affecting areas such as cardiovascular
care
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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made cutting hospital waiting
times one of his major priorities amid eroding public satisfaction
with an institution that has long been a source of national pride.

The British Medical Association (BMA), the union representing doctors,
wants a 35% pay rise, arguing that members have suffered a 26% real
terms cut in pay over 15 years.

The BMA has said the strikes by junior doctors, some of whom are very
experienced, could be stopped if health minister Steve Barclay put a
credible pay offer forward.

"Not only will the walkouts risk patient safety, but they have also
been timed to maximise disruption after the Easter break," Barclay
said in a statement.

He says the BMA's demands are unreasonable and would mean an increase
of more then 20,000 pounds ($24,840) for some doctors.

The doctors have joined hundreds of thousands of other public sector
workers who have gone on strike in Britain, including railway staff,
teachers and civil servants.

Disputes in some sectors have been resolved in recent weeks.

($1 = 0.8052 pounds)

_Additional writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne,
Kate Holton and Alex Richardson_

_[SACHIN RAVIKUMAR is a correspondent for Reuters in London covering
general news from across the UK. Over nine years at Reuters, he has
helped run various breaking news teams, reported on business and
general news from India and worked as a desk editor.]_

* doctors
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* Healthcare
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* medical care
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* Britain
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* England
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* Great Britain
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* NHS
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* National Health Service
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