DOCTORS in York and North Yorkshire will go on strike for five days in November in an ongoing row over jobs and pay.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said the walkout by resident doctors in England will cover five consecutive days, from 7am on November 14 to 7am on November 19.
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said plans are in place to keep patients safe if the action goes ahead.
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Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the national move as “preposterous” and accused the BMA of “blocking a better deal for doctors".
Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA’s resident doctors committee (RDC), said: “This is not where we wanted to be.
“We have spent the last week in talks with Government, pressing the Health Secretary to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed.
“We know from our own survey half of second year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment, and shifts in hospitals go unfilled.
“We talked with the Government in good faith, keen for the Health Secretary to see that a deal that included options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years and giving newly trained doctors a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.
“Better employment prospects and restoring pay are a credible way forward that would work for doctors, work for Government, and work for our patients.
“While we want to get a deal done, the Government seemingly does not, leaving us with little option but to call for strike action.”
A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’re planning on the basis that most of our resident doctors will take part in the planned industrial action, and our business continuity plans are in place to ensure we continue to provide safe and essential care for our patients.
“We have well-established procedures to maintain essential services, though some areas may be staffed differently, and patients may experience delays or changes.
"If we do need to cancel a procedure or outpatient appointment, we’ll contact patients directly in advance.
"If patients have not heard from us, they should attend their procedure or appointment as planned.”
Mr Streeting said the walkouts are “unreasonable and unnecessary” and “do not have the public’s support, nor did a majority of resident doctors vote for them”.
He added: “It is preposterous that the BMA have rushed headlong into more damaging strike action a week after its new leadership opened discussions with the Government.
“After resident doctors have received a 28.9 per cent pay rise, the Government has been clear that we simply cannot go further on pay this year.
“But by walking out on strike, the BMA are walking away from an offer to improve resident doctors’ working conditions and create more specialty training roles to progress their careers.
"The BMA are blocking a better deal for doctors."
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