Thousands of doctors in England go on ‘longest strike ever’ over pay rise

London: Britain’s state-funded health care service is facing its longest strike ever, as thousands of doctors in England began a five-day strike on Thursday over pay. So-called junior doctors, who are in the early stages of their careers in the post-medical school years, started their strike at 7am, many of them in picket lines outside hospitals across England to show their support for a 35% pay rise. took a stand ,

Doctors’ union the British Medical Association has called for a 35% pay rise to bring junior doctors’ pay back to 2008 levels, taking into account inflation. Meanwhile, the workload on England’s 75,000 or so junior doctors has increased as waiting lists for patients for treatment remain at record highs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

BMA leaders Dr Robert Lawrenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: “Today marks the start of the longest single walkout by doctors in the history of the NHS, but it is still not a record that needs to be entered into the history books.”

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He urged the government to drop its ‘meaningless precondition’ of not talking at the time of announcing the strike.

The government, which is facing strikes by public employees in several sectors, is steadfast in its belief that it will not hold talks while strikes are taking place.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: “This five-day walkout by junior doctors will impact thousands of patients, put patient safety at risk and hinder efforts to cut NHS waiting lists.” “Wage demands of 35% or more are unreasonable and risk fueling inflation, which makes everyone poorer.”

Britain, like other countries, is battling high inflation for the first time in years. The rise in prices was caused first by supply chain issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which pushed up energy and food prices.

Although inflation has eased slightly from its peak to 8.7%, it remains well above the 2% level targeted by the Bank of England.