Iran Press/ Europe: Some 48-thousand medics are participating in the latest industrial action that will last until Saturday.
A union, representing junior doctors, says the strikers are against the government's 5-percent pay offer. It says the medics have seen a 26-percent pay cut in real terms in the last 15 years and their salaries have failed to keep pace with inflation.
Junior doctors have threatened with more such strikes throughout the summer if their demands, including 35-percent pay rise, are not met.
They are seeking a 35% salary rise to restore the value of their pay to 2008-09 levels. The health secretary, Steve Barclay, has said their claim was unreasonable.
Prof Stephen Powis, National Health Service (NHS) England’s national medical director, said the stoppage would have an enormous impact and lead to huge numbers of patients missing out on planned care.
“The NHS has been preparing extensively for this next set of strikes,” said Powis. “But we know that – with the sheer number of appointments that need to be rescheduled – it will have an enormous impact on routine care for patients and on the waiting list, as procedures can take time to rearrange with multiple teams involved.”
The NHS Confederation, which represents health service trusts, said patients’ health could suffer because this week’s stoppage would exacerbate the NHS’s care backlog, which already stands at a record 7.4 million.
In April, a similar walkout created chaos in hospitals across England. A wide range of public sectors in the UK has witnessed strikes in recent monthes over pay amid skyrocketing inflation and a coat of living crisis.
The British Medical Association’s junior doctors’ committee intends to start reballoting its members next week, seeking a new mandate for strikes for a further six months that, if enough doctors back renewed strike action to meet the legal threshold, could result in walkouts until early 2024.
More than 542,000 consultations and surgical procedures have been rescheduled across the NHS since nurses, ambulance staff, junior doctors and physiotherapists began striking over pay last December.
224
Read More:
Environmental activists hold rally for second day in London
100,000 Londoners to stage rally against government
British people stage greatest anti-government protests in UK
