Starting Wednesday, hospital doctors in England are set to undertake their most extended strike to date, a development that is raising concerns among health leaders about the added strain on services during a particularly busy period.
Junior doctors, who rank below consultants, are staging picket lines from 7:00 AM GMT through to the same time on Saturday, marking a significant intensification in their ongoing dispute over pay. An additional six days of strikes are scheduled to commence on January 3.
This action occurs during one of the peak times for the state-operated National Health Service (NHS), which is already dealing with heightened demands due to seasonal respiratory diseases.
The strike has been met with criticism from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and hospital authorities, who have expressed grave concerns about the extended duration of the walkout.
On Tuesday, Sunak urged junior doctors to reconsider the considerable impact their strike would have on the NHS and individual patients and to engage in dialogue.
The British Medical Association (BMA) called for the strike earlier in the month following a breakdown in negotiations with the government.
The BMA has refused the government’s offer of a 3.0-percent pay increase in addition to the average 8.8-percent hike granted earlier in the year, arguing that the increase would be unevenly distributed among different doctor grades, effectively resulting in pay cuts for many.
Health policy in the UK is decentralized, with Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland managing their health services, and the UK government responsible for England. In Wales, junior doctors are preparing for a 72-hour strike starting January 15, while in Northern Ireland, doctors are being polled on potential strike action.
