How UK junior doctors strike is crippling health system

The junior doctors striking in the UK is set to cripple the healthcare system. The tens of thousands of doctors that have gone on strike for better pay comprise half the medical workforce. This latest action comes as the National Health Service (NHS) deals with one of its greatest crisis – and in the aftermath of a previous strike by doctors last month. Let’s take a closer look at the impact: The strike, which began on 11 April, will cause around 350,000 appointments including operations to be cancelled across the United Kingdom, according to several media reports. The National quoted the NHS’ top doctor Sir Stephen Powis as saying that the situation will “become more challenging each day this strike progresses”. Powis told BBC’s Radio 4, “When we had the last period of industrial action a few weeks ago, that was three days, we saw over 175,000 operations and procedures having to be rescheduled. “We won’t get the exact number this week until the strike is over but our expectation is that we will see considerably more than that.” That already seems to have happened.

Response times for life-threatening illnesses and injuries have already increased, as per The National.

One in 10 people in emergency rooms have to wait longer than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred and discharged, the outlet quoted NHS data as showing. As per The Independent, the NHS is prioritising emergency care,  critical care, maternity services and neonatal care. The strike, which takes place after a long bank holiday weekend, has been timed for maximum disruption, as per the newspaper. [caption id=“attachment_12451472” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Junior doctors and supporters hold placards near Big Ben on the picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital in Westminster in London. AP[/caption] The strike comes amid school holidays – meaning consultant staff who eased the burden in the earlier strikes will be unable to do so. ‘Hundreds of GPs will quit’ The NHS has roped in General Practitioners to help tide over the four-day strike.

But family doctors are warning of the long-term effects of such a move.

Hundreds of GPs could leave the NHS as a result of their workload increasing, they say. Dr Selvaseelan Selvarajah, GP Partner at Bromley by Bow Health in east London, told INews, “The longer the strikes go on the bigger impact on GP workloads as a whole.” “The waiting list for treatment in England is already over 7.2 million people and months of industrial action will add to that. “Patients whose treatment has been postponed further or delayed will contact their local GP to see if they can contact the hospital where their operation is due to take place to ask for either a quicker rescheduled appointment or whether they can be seen elsewhere.” The Independent quoted a new poll as showing that 54 per cent of Britons supported the doctors, while 49 per cent of them say junior doctors need more pay. Doctors and govt deadlocked The British Medical Association (BMA), the union representing doctors, wants a 35 per cent pay rise, arguing that members have suffered a 26 per cent real terms cut in pay over 15 years. The BMA has said the strikes by junior doctors, some of whom are very experienced, could be stopped if health minister Steve Barclay put a credible pay offer forward. But the government remains unmoved. “Not only will the walkouts risk patient safety, but they have also been timed to maximise disruption after the Easter break,” Barclay said in a statement. “This demand is widely out of step with pay settlements in other parts of the public sector at a time of considerable economic pressure on our country,” Barclay said in the Sunday Telegraph. He says the BMA’s demands are unreasonable and would mean an increase of more then 20,000 pounds for some doctors.

The BBC quoted former health minister Lord Warner as saying the current regime “looks obstinate”.

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Warner said the 35 per cent demand is a negotiating ploy and that the doctors probably “know they’ve got to get into single figures”. But BMA co-chair Dr Vivek Trivedi says that just isn’t the case. [caption id=“attachment_12451482” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] People take part in a rally in Trafalgar Square in support of striking NHS junior doctors, as the British Medical Association holds a 96-hour walkout in a dispute over pay, in London,. AP[/caption] “Behind the scenes is actually what you see in public. We’re ready to negotiate - and want to - but we’re being met with nothing but silence and refusal to come to the table.” Speaking to Al Jazeera, junior doctor Aislinn Macklin Doherty likened the NHS to a ‘sinking ship’. “If you’re in a system where the wolves are crumbling around you, which I think is linked to pay cuts, you then get to a critical point where you have to either stand up for what you believe in or you just accept and leave,” she said. Patients perturbed Meanwhile, patients continue to suffer. Rachel England, who had a March surgery postponed for an elbow appointment, told The Guardian her procedure has been delayed yet again. “I’m in constant pain and am restricted with my movement. My partner has to help more at home – little things such as struggling with [using] a knife. I end up wearing my food the majority of the time because of hand spasms. I can’t lift a coffee cup with my right hand. “I’m worried, is it going to get cancelled again? It’s affecting my mental health. I’m not sleeping properly, I’m really anxious – it’s horrible.” Emma, whose 12-year-old is awaiting a heart operation, said the procedure has been delayed by two weeks.

“It was terrifying because my child is really not well.”

“The whole year since then was very hard for us, when you see your child being unwell all the time,” Emma said. “He can’t go back to school because he can’t walk.” “We are not religious, but I actually prayed for him to be well enough to wait until the next operation date.” “I just hope that he will be able to stay in this condition as he is today and not get worse. It’s very stressful for the whole family. “He was very disappointed. He is trying to think about something else and not to worry about it. It’s hard but what can we do?” Latest strike by NHS The strike is the latest to involve NHS staff, following walkouts by nurses, paramedics and others demanding rises that better reflect annual inflation running at more than 10 per cent. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made cutting hospital waiting times one of his major priorities amid eroding public satisfaction with an institution that has long been a source of national pride. The doctors have joined hundreds of thousands of other public sector workers who have gone on strike in Britain, including railway staff, teachers and civil servants. Disputes in some sectors have been resolved in recent weeks. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.