A five-day strike by resident doctors came to an end this morning – but more walkouts threaten even more disruption across the NHS in England.
The British Medical Association refused to rule out further action on Tuesday but said it would be willing to re-enter talks with the Health Secretary.
Residents doctors are not the only ones that could wreak havoc on the health service – nurses and paramedics are also unhappy with the pay offers they have received from the Government.
Here, The i Paper takes a look at the strikes in the pipeline and what the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, can do to avert them.
Resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors – went on strike from 7am on Friday to 7am on Wednesday.
They make up around half of all doctors and have completed a medical degree, working across NHS departments including GP surgeries and A&E. Many then enter speciality training or train to become a GP, which can take years.
Resident doctors have received a 28.9 per cent pay rise over the last three years.
For the second year in a row, resident doctors received the highest pay increase across the public sector, according to the Department of Health and Social Care. The BMA argues that resident doctors have built up more student debt than people working in other jobs because their degrees take longer to complete.
They will get a pay rise of 5.4 per cent this year.
The Government says they have had two years in a row of above inflation pay increases and will not be getting any further increases.
The BMA requested a pay rise of 29 per cent. The union wants pay to be brought back in line with the level it was at in 2008, saying pay has fallen 20 per cent since then once inflation is taken into account.
The BMA’s claim is based on the Retail Prices Index, a measure of inflation which includes housing costs like mortgage interest payments – unlike the Consumer Prices Index, which is used by the Government.
Streeting argues that when CPI is looked at instead of RPI, pay is fair.
Analysis by the Nuffield Trust – a health think tank – suggests pay has dropped 5 per cent since 2008 if CPI is used, and increased since 2015.
Resident doctors earn a basic salary of £38,831 in their first foundation year after finishing their degree. This rises to £44,439 in their second year and £73,992 after eight years or more. They get extra payments worth up to 15 per cent of their salaries for working at weekends.
The BMA maintains that raising pay is the best way to resolve the dispute, but an impasse with the Government on this issue has meant that attention has turned to other issues.
During five days of talks, which broke down on Tuesday last week, topics discussed included exam fees, career progression and the frequency of job rotations, which for some can happen every four months.
The BMA wanted to add the writing off of student loans, but the Government refused this.
Nurses
Nurses have reportedly rejected their 3.6 per cent pay award, which is lower than what resident doctors received. Other doctors got 4 per cent.
Royal College of Nursing members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland voted by a large majority against accepting the award in an indicative vote run by the union, The Guardian and BBC reported.
The RCN highlighted that the pay award was less than what doctors and teachers were given.
The results are expected to be published on Thursday, The i Paper understands.
After this, the RCN will ask ministers to talk to them about a range of changes to nurses’ terms and conditions, including better financial support for nursing students to address a fall in applications and changes to pay structures, according to The Guardian.
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This is expected to happen before the union considers staging a legal ballot for industrial action.
The Department of Health and Social Care said it is “clear we can’t move any further on headline pay but will work with the RCN to improve their major concerns, including pay structure reform, concerns on career progression and wider working conditions”. It said it gave nurses two above-inflation pay rises.
On Friday the GMB union representing thousands of health workers, including ambulance crews, rejected the Government’s pay award of 3.6 per cent.
The union requested an urgent meeting with Streeting to discuss pay and other issues.
Senior doctors and consultants
Hospital consultants are also threatening to strike in the autumn over the 4 per cent pay rise they were awarded for this year, which the BMA called “an insult to senior doctors”.
The BMA is asking members if they are willing to take part in industrial action with an indicative ballot starting on July 21 and closing on September 1.
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