Resident doctors are striking today once again over a long running dispute with the government.
The industrial action is set to begin at 7am, and will see the resident doctors walk out in their 13th strike in England so far.
LabourList breaks down what the strike is about, what it means for doctors, and how it might affect Labour in government.
Who are Resident Doctors?
We used to call them junior doctors. They’re fully qualified doctors who practice medicine, but are usually in the process of working towards a speciality.
They have a medical degree, so there’s no dispute at all as to their status as doctors. They’ll just have more senior doctors working over them until they reach that level themselves – be that as a GP or as a consultant.
Why are they striking?
It’s the old story. Pay and conditions. The doctors are seeking a what they describe as “pay restoration” after inflation ate away at their real terms salaries over the past decade.
A BMA spokesperson said: “Even though more than 90% of you voted in favour of taking action on both the pay dispute and the training numbers dispute, it’s clear the government are not prepared to move on these areas.”
The union also wants the government to commit to improving training numbers for doctors wanting to enter the profession.
What was last year’s settlement?
The pay dispute was meant to have been ended last year when Labour entered government. A average 22.3% pay increase over two years was agreed after Wes Streeting became Health Secretary.
It’s also the moment that the title got changed. The public perhaps better know these professionals as “junior doctors”, but this was changed to resident doctors over concerns the former name gave a misleading impression of their qualifications.
While support for increasing training places was also raised, this remains one of the key sticking points in the upcoming strike.
What is the BMA saying?
Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee (RDC), said: “This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with Government, pressing the Health Secretary to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed.
“We know from our own survey half of second year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment, and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.”
What is Wes Streeting saying?
The Health Secretary has not minced words in his criticism of the proposed industrial action.
He said that “this strike action causes untold misery and disruption to patients who could do without it.”
Streeting added: “It puts untold pressure on other NHS staff who are picking up the pieces for the damage and disruption that resident doctors and the BMA are inflicting on the service.
“I think the leadership of the BMA need to really consider whether, at this time, with green shoots of recovery, they want to set the system back, because there isn’t a more pro-doctor, pro-NHS, health secretary or government waiting in the wings.”
What is polling saying?
For doctors, the strike comes amid concerns that public support for the strikes is waning.
BMA members may have overwhelmingly voted to back industrial action, but public polling is decidedly more mixed.
A YouGov poll from last month found a divided public on the matter, with 50% either strongly or somewhat opposing the strikes and 40% strongly or somewhat supporting them.
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