‘NONE of us want to strike, but we’ve been forced to by the government,’ Dr Kevin O’Kane, Chair, BMA London Regional Council, told a packed rally of striking consultants at BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, Thursday afternoon.
Opening and chairing the rally, O’Kane continued: ‘For the past 14 years 35% has been cut off our pay.
‘The 5% pay cut offer was an insult.’
He added: ‘Patients are waiting for operations. There’s been 14 years of underfunding of the NHS.
‘We have fewer doctors, fewer beds. We want to make the NHS viable for patients.’
Consultants Committee Chair, Vishal Sharma, told the rally: ‘We are all under pressure. We want new consultants but we can’t recruit.
‘Overseas employers offer better pay and conditions. Unless things change, we risk consultants leaving in their droves.
‘Strike action is a last resort. The government will not listen. For 15 years we’ve asked politely. For 15 years they will not listen. They are offering pay cut, after pay cut.
‘We’ve written to every secretary of state. They have refused to listen, refused to talk to us. Waiting lists have increased and there are less consultants.
‘No firm offer has been made. We are here because of the government and their action, or rather their inaction.
‘We make hundreds of decisions a day that impact on care. Is £14 per hour a sufficient reward? We have lost pensions, medical students, graduate with debts of thousand of pounds.
‘All they have to look forward is to be a consultant.
‘7,000 doctors have left the NHS – that is why we are making a stand.
‘We are making every effort to make sure patients are safe. The key part of why we are taking action is because patients are suffering.
‘The government made the “final offer” and said “no more talks”. We are united stronger together. We cannot and will not back down,’ he concluded to a standing ovation.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch told the rally: ‘You’re facing the same as us. Out system is like your system, a system that employs hundreds of people.
‘A team of doctors, nurses and other health workers all working together.
‘We need a decent society in which we can all live. We should all get a pay rise.
‘Why shouldn’t people in hospitals, on the railway, have a decent set of condtions?
‘We need a regulated society. We need a democratic society that the rich people have to respect.
‘We’ve got rich people who don’t pay tax, it’s time that they paid tax.
‘What’s happening in this country is a transfer of wealth from the working class to the super rich. The oligarchs are running the country.
‘We changed society after World War Two when we brought in the welfare state.
‘They are out to change that, to destroy the welfare state. What we are fighting for is the welfare state.
‘It’s best to join with the other trade unions. The government is defunding our services to privatise them, to run them into the ground.
‘We wish you every success, you’ve got to keep fighting.
‘A change is coming in this country. We are determined to get a deal for our people.
‘The BMA needs to be determined to get a deal for its people. Part of the change is to get rid of this corrupt government, he concluded to big applause.
A speaker from the floor remarked: ‘I remember when British Rail was nationalised. They said it would have to be privatised.
‘The same thing is happening to the NHS. We have to have a society that’s for all people.’
Another floor speaker said: ‘The people who are running things are a bunch of criminals, not just in the UK.
‘They are destroying us. We are responsible to make our generation’s world fair.
‘We have to fight for what we believe. We’re not just fighting for the NHS, we’re fighting for a better world.’
Dr Jackie Applebee, Chair, Doctors in Unite, told the rally: ‘I bring solidarity from General Practice.
‘We stand with everybody who are fighting this corrupt, greedy government.
‘On the GP committee we were talking about the appalling demand and lack of funding.
‘It’s not just about pay, it’s about providing a safe service. The NHS as set up to replace fear after WW2.
‘You only have to look at the NHS to see it is being decimated, run down to privatise. The public know if the NHS closes they won’t be able to afford healthcare.
‘We all should fight for pay and conditions. Your fight encourages others.
‘Six per cent is still a pay cut. Why should people continue year on year with less pay than you had before?
‘I bring solidarity from GPs. GPs should go on strike, then all the profession will stand together.’
Next to speak, Dr Eddie Crouch, Chair, British Dental Association, said: ‘I’m here today because I don’t think our juniors, our consultants are worth less than were 20 years ago.
‘We’re standing shoulder to shoulder with our colleagues.
‘Let’s destroy the myths that pay rises cause inflation, that there are more dentists.
‘What a pay failure does do is cause an exodus from the NHS.
‘The Pay Review Bodies aren’t actually independent. They recommended pay cuts for everyone in this room.
‘Ministers say they can’t afford pay restoration. Young dentists face a difficult life.
‘Unfit for the 21st century, said a report by MPs on dentistry. Don’t let the same judgement be made against hospitals.’
A video message was relayed from Dr Vivek Trivedi, Co-Chair, BMA Junior Doctors’ Committee, who said: ‘You are not just striking for yourselves, but the future of the whole profession.
‘Consultants for years with experience you have been disrespected.
‘That disrespect must stop. Doctors are standing up for our profession.
‘There is nothing average for the years you have sacrificed. They hope to wear us down. But we will not be put off track.
‘We are united in restoring our profession. You deserve to be compensated fairly.
‘We are fighting for a system that respects doctors. This is not an isolated issue but is for fairness and justice.
‘The government will see juniors and consultants fighting for each other.
‘We must use the tool of industrial action as its the only tool we have to effect change.
‘Junior doctors are standing by your side always in solidarity.’
Speaking from the floor, former consultant Anna Athow said: ‘This is an historic moment. Congratulations! Consultants have come out on strike to fight for pay and conditions and for the future of the NHS, for the first time in history.
‘It was the consultants who held the fort during the pandemic, they take responsibility for entire departments, they train the next generation of consultants. The NHS can’t function without them.
‘Yet this government kicks them in the teeth with constant-imposed pay cuts and vilification.
‘Public sector pay is NOT the cause of inflation – quantitative easing and the printing of paper money and the corporate greed of capitalism is.
‘We need all the consultant vacancies filled, and the bottle necks in clinical training places removed immediately.
‘This is not mentioned in the recent government NHS long term workforce plan. All they want is an army of apprentices and physicians associates – non-doctors doing doctors jobs. This endangers patient safety.
‘We can’t defend the NHS on our own. The RMT railworkers led the way and all workers in the NHS and in education and many other unions have become involved in this fight for above inflation pay rises and to defend their services.
‘The fact is that this Tory government is eroding away the NHS and taking away the right of patients to see a GP, an NHS dentist and a consultant.
‘They don’t care about the NHS. As the waiting lists rise, they are driving patients into the private sector.
‘What we need is united industrial action – a general strike – by the whole trade union movement to bring this government down, make the TUC call it.
‘And Socialism – to restore our NHS and all the public services.
‘Congratulations once more!’ she concluded to enthusiastic applause.
Final speaker from the platform, Mr Andrew Jordan, BMA Industrial Relations Officer, said: ‘On the picket line this morning, one consultant told me, “I can’t believe it’s come to this.”
‘But enough is enough. We’ve a pay cut no professional or worker should have to suffer.
‘The consequence of decimating pay is in the value of your pension.
‘Also it has an impact on the service.
‘Over 50 per cent of you are working in a department that has 50 per cent vacancies.
‘Doctors come out of medical school with hundreds of thousands of pounds debt.
‘86 per cent of you voted for industrial action with a 77 per cent turn out. These figures show how you feel.
‘They show public sector pay is not driving inflation. It’s a myth the public do not accept.
‘Investment in all of you is the right thing for the government to do.
‘How has the government responded to this strength of feeling? No negotiations, no offer. Six per cent is a real terms pay cut, it’s an imposition. No amount of strike action will change things.
‘Well, we will soon see that is not the case.
‘Make clear it is the government that is refusing to negotiate.
‘You have made the BMA strong. There are now 190,000 BMA members.
‘We are faced with a long dispute.
‘Stay united and determined, you have my word we will win this dispute,’ he concluded to a standing ovation.
