2023-12-20 11:42:43
This new strike comes following a series of similar movements in recent months, at a time when the public health system in Britain is struggling to contain the large numbers of patients registered on waiting lists to receive treatment.
The strike is expected to continue until seven o’clock on Saturday morning, before the doctors stop working once more within 6 days, from the third to the ninth of January, in what is considered the longest strike in the history of the National Health Service (NHS).
A statement issued by the British Medical Association (BMA) in early December announcing the strike said: “After five weeks of arduous negotiations, the government has demonstrated its inability to make a credible pay offer.”
Graduate doctors were offered an additional 3 percent increase in addition to the 8.8 percent average bonus given to them this summer, according to the British Medical Association, due in particular to the decline in purchasing power for a large number of them.
During a session in Parliament on Tuesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that this new strike is “disappointing,” noting that graduate doctors are the “only” members of the public service with whom an agreement has not yet been concluded.
He also warned of the repercussions of this strike, which would prolong the waiting times that patients endure.
On the eve of the strike, Health Minister Victoria Atkins sought reassurance, unveiling “significant emergency measures” to reduce any confusion, and stating that her door “remains open” to negotiations provided the strike ends.
The British health system, which suffers from a shortage of staff and very long waiting times, has witnessed a series of strikes in recent months by various categories of workers, especially an unprecedented strike movement among the nursing staff.
The category of consultant doctors recently received a bonus ranging between 6 and 19.6 percent.
Since mid-2022, Britain has paralyzed several strike movements due to the decline in purchasing power. Inflation has recently declined, reaching 4.6 percent in October.
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