Junior doctors in York will strike on Tuesday - some appointments have been cancelled

Junior doctors are taking part in a day of industrial action in protest against proposed Government changes to contracts which they say will leave them overworked and underpaid.

There are understood to be more than 100 junior doctors based in York and many are expected to strike from 8am on Tuesday.

However, the British Medical Association (BMA) has said junior doctors working in emergency situations - such as emergency operations, accident and emergency and intensive care - will not take part in the strike.

Patients whose appointments or procedures have been rescheduled will be contacted by the hospital. No elective operations have had to be cancelled as the hospital had planned fewer for Tuesday than usual in anticipation of a possible strike.

Jenny Hey, deputy chief operating officer at York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Individual staff members are not obliged to tell us if they intend to take part in the strike, however we are working with the doctors’ representatives and our clinical teams to build a picture of the likely impact and to ensure that, wherever possible, essential services can continue without compromising patient safety.

“Whilst we plan to maintain as many services as possible, we will need to postpone some appointments and procedures on the days that the action is taking place. Those patients affected will be contacted, and those who do not hear from us should assume their appointment or procedure is going ahead as planned.”

The new contract for junior doctors, who can be new doctors up to those with well over a decade of experience, changes anti-social hours to outside 7am to 10pm Monday to Saturday, making Saturday between 7am and 10pm part of a junior doctor’s normal working week.

The change to Saturday working has angered doctors, who say it will reduce overtime pay and cut salaries.

In York junior doctors carrying out industrial action will be holding a “meet the doctor” event in Parliament Street to discuss their concerns with the public.

A York spokesperson for the BMA said: “Industrial action is necessary to show the Government that junior doctors (from newly qualified up to 15+ years experience) are not happy to have a contract imposed on us that would be unsafe to our patients, unfair for our doctors and undermine the future of the NHS.

“This is something that we hoped would be avoided but the government have been unable to negotiate with the BMA.”

The strikes could still be called off at the 11th hour if a settlement can be made. Strikes were suspended at the last minute on November 30.

Ms Hey said: “Given the potential impact of the strike action on our hospital services, we would encourage people to think about whether they need to visit the Emergency Department, which is there for people in serious or life threatening situations. Patients can really help us by taking the appropriate action to treat their condition, which might mean contacting NHS 111 or attending a pharmacy. Better use of all the available services will help to ensure that only patients with a real emergency come to hospital, giving us more time to dedicate to those patients who really need us.”

Dr Melody Redman (pictured above), a second year junior doctor working in North Yorkshire, but not at York Hospital, has given a personal view of why she and her colleagues are planning strike action next week:

“With a heavy heart, and left with no other option, junior doctors will be taking part in industrial action next week against the Government’s proposed contract which is unsafe for patients, unfair for doctors, and unsustainable for the NHS.

“It’s not just me that believes this; after a ballot of over 37,000 junior doctors by the British Medical Association (BMA), 98 per cent voted for strike action.

“The BMA has planned the action for next week after the Government’s continued failure to address junior doctors’ concerns about the need for robust contractual safeguards on safe working, and proper recognition for those working unsocial hours.

“I’m hoping to start training in children’s medicine later this year. If I progress through that training full-time, without any time out for research, volunteering abroad, or anything else, I will still class as a junior doctor, working under this contract, until 2024 - I’ll be 34.

“I’m also not just a doctor. Junior doctors are patients and the relatives of patients, so we understand how important the NHS is to you.

“Jeremy Hunt has claimed the contract changes are to provide a seven-day NHS, but we already provide care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are sick, a junior doctor will be at work to help you.

“The proposed contract would extend normal working hours to include weekday evenings and Saturdays too, devaluing the long, unsocial hours that junior doctors work.

“Many junior doctor rotas are already under-staffed, but this contract risks more doctors voting with their feet and leaving the NHS.

“We cannot afford to lose more junior doctors. I do not want patients to be treated by a demoralised, undervalued and exhausted junior doctor. I want them to receive the best care we can give.

“We sincerely regret the disruption that industrial action will cause, but junior doctors have been left with no option. It is because the Government’s proposals would be bad for patient care as well as junior doctors in the long-term that we are taking this stand.”