JUNIOR doctors were on the picket line outside York Hospital again today as they started their fifth round of strikes in a bitter dispute with the Government over pay.
The industrial action started today (Friday, August 11) and is set to last for four days.
Alex Brightmore, an anaesthetic junior doctor and BMA member, was among those on the picket line outside York Hospital.
He told The Press: "We are here today to try and get the Government to restore meaningful negotiations in a dispute over restoring pay that's been eroded over the last 12 years.
"We are getting generally positive support from people, which is really uplifting.
"We felt a real boost by consultants voting to take industrial action as well.
"The consultants, allied health professionals and management have been largely supportive and working tirelessly to ensure a safe level of health provision can be delivered 24/7 while we are on strike."
He added that the industrial action would continue as long as it took.
"At the moment we see no other way," he said. "We don't want to be out here but we want to fight for your and our NHS and for safe health care for all."
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A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs York Hospital, said: “It is vital that people do not put off seeking care. Urgent and emergency treatment remains our priority and patients can continue to access care from our emergency departments, maternity services and critical services for inpatients.
“It is important people choose services wisely over this period so that care is available to patients who need it most. This includes using 111 online as the first port of call for health needs and continuing to only use 999 if it is a life-threatening emergency.
“Unfortunately, we have postponed a number of operations and appointments over the period of strike action which we will be re-arranging as a priority. We appreciate this situation is frustrating for patients affected and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
"Anyone with an appointment should continue to attend as planned unless they have been contacted to rearrange.”
Nationally, some new doctors were taking to picket lines just days after starting their first NHS jobs.
Foundation Year 1 doctors started their first roles after medical school on Wednesday August 2 – just nine days ago.
Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairs of the British Medical Association’s junior doctors committee, said: “We are now at the stage where a whole new cohort of junior doctors is entering the profession, only to be immediately given no choice by the Government but to go on strike for their future.
“The Government should be ashamed that this is the state of the profession they are presenting to our newest doctors.”
They added that the BMA’s “door remains open for talks at any time” with the Government.
Concerns have also been mounting over the impact of the strike after a High Court ruling which means the NHS cannot seek support from agency staff, as was the case during previous strikes.
The ruling in July concluded that employers could not use agency workers to fill in for striking staff.
While the NHS can use its own bank staff, NHS England pointed to the “additional challenge” posed to the service during this round of strikes.
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay warned that patients are “bearing the brunt of the impact of continuous strikes” and the latest spell “will cause more appointments and procedures to be postponed”.
He added: “My door is always open to discuss how to improve doctors’ working lives, but this pay award is final so I urge the BMA to end its strikes immediately.”
NHS representatives have expressed dismay over the ongoing fallout from industrial action.
So far, almost 835,000 appointments have been postponed as a result of industrial action since December across the health service in England, according to NHS figures.
But NHS Confederation said the true level of disruption is being “masked” and, in a worst-case scenario, the number of cancellations could be double this number.
The Department of Health and Social Care said that the pay rise given to junior doctors – a six per cent rise along with an additional consolidated £1,250 increase, which the Government describes as an “average increase of around 8.8 per cent” – was “fair and reasonable” and “above what most in the public and private sectors are receiving”.
However, Dr Naru Narayanan, president of hospital doctors’ union the HCSA, said the Government had adopted “a very misleading line on pay”.
“These strikes have never been just about the 2022-3 pay award. They’re about tackling the 13 years of pay erosion which are affecting staffing and patient care.”
The latest round of strike action from British Medical Association (BMA) junior doctors will end at 7am on Tuesday, August 15.
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