TENS of thousands of Resident Doctors begin their 15th wave of strike action today in defence of their pay and conditions against attacks first of all from the Tories and now the Labour government.
Last week PM Starmer provocatively told the British Medical Association it had ‘48 hours to call off the strike’ or he would withdraw 1,000 extra training places for resident doctors.
The BMA defiantly rebutted Starmer and demanded ‘talks not threats’, a call which was reiterated yesterday by the Chairman of the Resident Doctors Committee, Dr Jack Fletcher.
Dr Fletcher said: ‘If the government would like to avoid further industrial action we’re very happy and willing to get round the table and get a deal done that works not only for resident doctors but patients as well. And that will see an end to industrial action in the NHS.’
‘People should not put off seeking the care they need when a six-day strike by resident doctors in England begins on Tuesday,’ the NHS has said.
Today’s strike begins at 7.00am and runs until 6.59am on Monday 13 April.
The BMA said the strikes will ‘bring disruption – despite NHS England’s assurances that it can maintain the vast majority of services running for patients during times of industrial action.’
Dr Fletcher said: ‘Many senior doctors will be covering for us and whilst that of course benefits patients, we know they are also exhausted and as demoralised as we are.
He told the BBC yesterday: ‘We had been negotiating with the government for about eight or nine weeks.
‘There was no industrial action called during that period because we felt like we were making progress.
‘However, right at the last minute the government reduced the investment on the table and then stretched it over a number of years.
‘If the government would like to avoid further industrial action we’re very happy and willing to get round the table and get a deal done that works not only for resident doctors but patients as well.
