Forbes Innovation Healthcare Doctors’ Strike Delays 181,000 Hospital Appointments In
England Katherine Hignett Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I write about U.K. health policy. Following Mar 22, 2023, 12:30am EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to
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London,
United Kingdom - 2023/03/13: A junior doctor chants slogans through a megaphone during the ... [+] demonstration. Junior doctors gathered at the BMA (British Medical Association) picket outside St Thomas' Hospital as they begin their 72-hour strike demanding full pay restoration. (Photo by Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images More than 181,000 operations, procedures and other appointments were delayed in England over the course of a three-day doctors’ strike, official figures show. Junior doctors walked out of hospitals for 72 hours last week over pay they argue has risen far below inflation in recent years. These staff — fully qualified and in many cases having several years’ experience — make up a large proportion of the medical workforce. It was the latest in a series of strikes from public sector health employees. Nurses, ambulance staff and physiotherapists have also walked out in recent months in an effort to secure better pay and working conditions. Rapidly increasing living costs have taken their toll on staff who argue they are battling real-terms pay cuts as wages have failed to keep pace with inflation. Many staff have been working under extreme pressures , with short staffing, high demand for care and a lack of adequate social care support all contributing to high bed occupancy and longer stays in hospital. Union leaders say better pay is crucial to secure the country’s hospital workforce for the longer term. Previously, government officials had argued pay hikes would be expensive and potentially contribute to inflation itself. But after months of industrial action piled further pressure on the health sector, ministers finally agreed to negotiate with union leaders earlier this month. MORE FOR YOU The Inside Story Of Papa John's Toxic Culture U.S.-China Collaboration Could Cut Development Time, Cost For New
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immigration Questions On Logic And Legality Members of the Royal College of Nursing — the largest nursing union in the world — will vote on whether to accept a new pay deal this week. But with more senior doctors considering strikes , industrial action may be far from over. Numerous public sector employees — from rail workers to border force officers — have taken to the picket lines in recent months in protest over what they argue is low pay and, in many cases, challenging work conditions. Calling the impact of the junior doctors’ strike “huge”, NHS Conferederation chief executive Matthew Taylor said in a statement that the action must “prompt the government and
British Medical Association to get back round the table to bring an end to the dispute.” The BMA represents doctors at all stages of their career, including “juniors.” “While overall, the NHS has coped well there is no hiding from the fact that services have been severely stretched, and leaders are renewing their calls for both sides to reach compromise, and halt the ongoing detrimental impact industrial action is having on patients without delay,” he added. How this and any other health worker pay deals would be funded, however, “is an elephant in the room,” he said. NHS Confederation members include hospital trusts and other organisations that commission and offer health services. Some union leaders have expressed concern that pay increases might end up coming out of already-overstretched hospital budgets, rather than central government funding. “While the government has guaranteed that there will be no impact on frontline services or the quality of care that patients receive as a result of this pay offer, unless new money is made available it is very hard to see how this won’t be the case in practice, the maths just does not add up,” Taylor said. “Try as it might, an already very squeezed system will be unable to find much more in the way of efficiency savings, and leaders will be very concerned by the thought of having to make further cuts to services to honour a government commitment to a staff pay increase above what has been budgeted for, “We cannot be put in a situation where leaders are unable to recruit more staff because they are having to pay more to the staff already employed from existing budget.” Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Katherine Hignett Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions