AS JUNIOR doctors ended their latest five-day strike action yesterday morning, BMA Junior Doctors Committee spokesman Dr Tal Ellenbogen accused Tory PM Rishi Sunak of ‘trying to bully and intimidate doctors into taking another real pay cut’.
NHS consultants commence a two-day strike tomorrow at 7.00am and both junior doctors and consultants are to strike again in August.
Dr Tal Ellenbogen said yesterday morning: ‘The last five days have seen us wage the longest doctors strike in NHS history.
‘Rishi Sunak’s offer is not an offer, it is an imposition, the imposition of another real-terms pay cut to add to 15-years of real-terms pay cuts.
‘Doctors’ pay is now down over 31% in real-terms since 2008 and it means that doctors are leaving en masse to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and anywhere that is paying them almost double what they are currently being paid.
‘For us, that means burn-out on a level never seen before as we have to do the jobs of two, or even three, doctors.
‘But most importantly for patients, what they see is that any day of the year they are having to wait far too long at the emergency department, they’re having operations cancelled, they are having a waiting list in England that has more people on it than there are citizens of Scotland and Northern Ireland combined.
‘That why we have to take action and we have to get around the negotiating table with Rishi Sunak right now.
‘Otherwise, it looks like further strikes. Mr Sunak is refusing to come to the table, he is offering us a further real-terms pay cut. It’s not even an offer. 6% is an imposition.
‘It’s a shame that it has come to this. It’s a shame that Mr Sunak doesn’t respect the citizens of England enough to get in a room and make a credible offer that can avert strikes, as the Scottish government did successfully.
‘Burying your head in the sand until you are no longer in office is cowardly.’
He continued: ‘It sounds as if Rishi Sunak is trying to bully and intimidate doctors into taking another real pay cut on top of 15 years of real pay cuts until it’s well above 26%.
‘He’s expecting doctors to work for three to four months for free and then to say yes to another pay cut. How can that be fair and reasonable?’
