JUNIOR doctors in England announced a five-day strike in the run-up to the general election today after the Tories failed to make a “concrete commitment” to restore their pay to pre-austerity levels.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said that it had give the government “a final opportunity to make an offer and avoid strikes,” adding that “this opportunity has not been taken up.”
The union announced that junior doctors would stage a full walkout 7am on June 27 to 7am on July 2, two days before the general election.
BMA junior doctors committee co-chairmen Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said in a statement: “We made clear to the government that we would strike unless discussions ended in a credible pay offer.
“Even at this late stage, Mr Sunak has the opportunity to show that he cares about the NHS and its workers.
“It is finally time for him to make a concrete commitment to restore doctors’ pay.
“If during this campaign he makes such a public commitment that is acceptable to the BMA’s junior doctors committee, then no strikes need go ahead.”
They added that they had been asking Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to put forward proposals to restore the pay junior doctors have lost over the past 15 years — equating to more than a quarter in real terms — for more than 18 months.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins claimed that Labour should condemn the union’s “highly cynical tactic” of announcing its 11th strike in the long-running dispute during an election campaign and on Labour’s health day.
Sir Keir Starmer said it was “unforgivable” that the government had “effectively kicked” efforts to reach a pay settlement with junior doctors to beyond polling day, adding that health staff don’t want to go on strike.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said he would not meet the BMA pay claim of 35 per cent on day one of a Labour government, vowing to negotiate on “wider conditions so that junior doctors are genuinely valued and look forward to a career in the NHS.”
NHS Providers deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery said: “This announcement marks a worrying escalation in the long dispute between the government and junior doctors.”
The Department for Health and Social Care said: “Patient safety will be the priority during industrial action and the NHS will prepare for these strikes in the usual way.”
