Stretched by staff shortages, Britain’s NHS to be hit hard as junior doctors vote to walk out

London: Thousands of junior doctors in the United Kingdom have voted for mass strikes beginning March, their trade union said on Monday. The fresh wave of strikes, this time round by junior doctors will add to a series of walkouts by nurses and ambulance workers, putting unprecedented pressure on an already beleaguered healthcare system in the country. The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents some 45,000 junior doctors in England, said 98% of those taking part in a ballot had voted in favour of strikes, adding that they will stage a 72-hour walkout next month. The BMA, however, did not give a date for the agitation. A few years ago, doctors working for the NHS had agreed to an annual 2% pay hike as part of a four-year deal but say that is now inadequate in light of much higher inflation and escalating cost of living in UK. “This vote shows, without a shadow of doubt, the strength of feeling among most of England’s junior doctors,” the BMA said. “We are frustrated, in despair and angry and we have voted in our thousands.” The medical association describes junior doctors as those who are qualified in clinical training and have up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor or up to three years in general practice. They usually work under the supervision of a senior doctor. British health minister Steve Barclay called the vote by the junior doctors “deeply disappointing”. “I’ve met with the BMA and other medical unions to discuss what is fair and affordable, as well as wider concerns around conditions and workload. I want to continue discussing how we can make the make the National Health Service a better place to work for all,” Barclay said in a statement. In the BMA’s opinion, junior doctors have suffered a more than 25% real-terms pay cut since 2008, leaving many demotivated and four in 10 wanting to leave the profession, according to a recent poll. Another trade union for doctors, the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, said its junior doctor members had also voted to carry out strikes in a separate ballot. That strike, on March 15, involves less than a thousand staff. The mass strikes will heap more pressure on Britain’s state-funded NHS which is already stretched by staff shortages and record backlogs, and is now experiencing waves of disruptive strike action by health workers. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government has argued that higher pay rises would only cause more inflation and interest rates and mortgage rates to go up further. Earlier this week, more than 10,000 ambulance workers went on strike on Monday, while last week the nursing trade union announced a fresh 48-hour strike from March 1. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.