UK Doctors Go on Strike, Treatments Postponed

Junior doctors at Chesterfield Royal Hospital say planned new contracts being imposed by the Government are bad for medical professionals and risky for patients.

But Nadia Masood, who has been a junior doctor for 11 years, retorted: “I, and all the doctors that are striking, genuinely believe that this contract is more unsafe than this strike could ever have the potential to be”.

Junior doctors have been picketing outside North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple today (Tuesday).

The British Medical Association (BMA) who organised the walk out said there was a strong turnout across the North East.

Up to 38,000 junior doctors will stage a 24-hour strike on Tuesday in their dispute over new contracts which would allow hospitals to rota more weekend staff.

“The government have shown that they are quite happy to remove any safeguards against the length of hours junior doctors work and this, I can see, will lead rapidly to people working very long hours and exhausted doctors make mistakes”.

However, there are plans to cut the number of hours on a weekend for which Junior Doctors can claim extra pay for unsocial hours. “But we have such concerns about what the changes mean for the future of the NHS”.

Rebecca Hardcastle, an orthopaedic gynaecologist, said none of the doctors wanted to take part in the strike, but they were left with little option.

If this dispute is not resolved soon, more strikes are planned in the coming weeks.

“We have been clear throughout this process that we want to negotiate a contract that is safe and fair, and delivers for junior doctors, patients and the NHS as whole”, he added. The Conservative government says the reforms are needed to help create a “seven days a week” NHS where the quality of care is as high at the weekends as on weekdays.

There will also be a 48-hour strike, which will also not involve doctors on emergency cover, from 8am on Tuesday, January 26.

He said planning is already under way for the next proposed strike and apologised in advance for any inconvenience to patients who found their outpatient appointments or operations cancelled.

Prime Minister David Cameron had pleaded with doctors to call off the action.

“Again, our patients need to be in the care of healthy and not over-worked doctors”.

“We have been working with the doctors’ representatives and our clinical teams to build a picture of the likely impact of today’s strike to ensure that, wherever possible, essential services can continue without compromising patient safety”. This will be followed by the first-ever full walkout between 8am and 5pm on 10 February.