BMA members overwhelmingly back further stoppages and overtime bans in long-running pay dispute
Junior doctors in England have voted to keep on striking until the middle of September in their long-running pay dispute, bringing a fresh wave of disruption to the NHS.
Those belonging to the British Medical Association voted overwhelmingly to stage further stoppages in addition to the 41 days of strikes held since last March.
Continue reading...BMA votes for further five days of action after meeting with health secretary fails to resolve grievances
Junior doctors are to stage fresh strike action in England for a 10th time after talks between their union and the government broke down again.
Ministers, health officials and representatives from the British Medical Association (BMA) had been locked in negotiations for weeks since last month’s record six-day stoppage, trying to find a resolution to the pay dispute.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Sources say PM has blocked talks due to concerns about knock-on effect of more generous pay offer
Rishi Sunak has been accused of personally holding up a deal to end doctors’ strikes in England despite warnings from the health department and NHS England that waiting lists will continue to soar unless the industrial dispute is resolved.
Sources told the Guardian it had been made “abundantly and repeatedly” clear to the prime minister that there would be no progress on his pledge to drive down NHS waiting lists until a deal was struck.
Continue reading...Co-chair says members ‘very happy to look over deals that would span a number of years’
Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, has restated her call for the BMA to call off the junior doctors’ strike in England. Speaking to Sky News she said:
We’re very concerned about the consequences [the strike] will have, not just for this week of industrial action, but also in the weeks following, because consultants and other clinicians who are picking up the slack as junior doctors, doctors in training, are not at their work – that will be reflected in the weeks coming up with people trying to catch up with the lost time.
So it’s going to have a huge impact on our health system. My ask of the junior doctors committee is to call off these strikes and get back round the negotiating table.
Six days of Junior Doctor strikes in England, all because of a UK Government that chooses tax cuts for the wealthy over paying NHS staff fairly.
We have taken different choices in Scotland and avoided a single day of NHS strikes. Our budget gives the NHS a real-terms increase.
Health bosses raise alarm as junior doctors begin the longest strike in NHS history. But how will the action actually affect patients?
Almost a year after the first strike over pay and conditions, junior doctors in England are going out on strike again for six days. (A pay deal has already been reached in Scotland, while doctors in Wales are due to strike later this month and those in Northern Ireland are being balloted.)
While the new health secretary, Victoria Atkins, is on slightly better terms with the British Medical Association (BMA), which represents junior doctors, than her predecessor, Steve Barclay, the doctors and the government are still a long way apart. As the two sides make their case, here’s some help with interpreting what they have to say.
Six days of strike action following bank holidays at a time of enormous pressure, there are real issues around patient safety”
NHS Confederation chief executive, Matthew Taylor, 23 December
Junior doctors’ pay has been cut by more than a quarter since 2008”
The public know the only way to have a healthcare system that looks after them is to have enough doctors. And they can completely appreciate [that junior doctors’ pay] is just not enough”
Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-leader of the British Medical Association, 20 December
They have taken the decision to walk away from the discussions we were having, which were live”
The health secretary, Victoria Atkins, 13 December
I mean even recently the secretary of state has said they have a final offer to give. Well then give it and let’s solve the dispute”
Dr Rob Laurenson, co-leader of the British Medical Association, 30 December
Continue reading...Hospital bosses worry BMA will not honour agreement to return junior doctors to work in event of major incident
NHS bosses fear patient safety could be compromised during this week’s junior doctors strikes if medics do not honour an agreement to abandon picket lines if hospitals become overwhelmed during the winter crisis.
Hospital bosses can ask the British Medical Association (BMA) to allow junior doctors to return to work to help if an emergency arises during their six-day strike starting on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Eurostar and Eurotunnel services resume on Friday but drivers face 60-minute queue for French border controls
Christmas getaway disruption was continuing on Friday with long queues for cross-Channel journeys, motorway closures and train cancellations on one of the busiest days of the year for travel.
In the late afternoon the Port of Dover in Kent said it was taking about 60 minutes to process cars before French border controls.
Continue reading...NHS Employers writes to British Medical Association warning of dangers of proposed six-day stoppage
Patients have been harmed as a result of doctors striking this year, and others needing time-critical treatment will be at risk during next month’s walkout in England, hospital bosses have said.
Cancer patients and women having induced or caesarean section births will be in danger of damage to their health unless junior doctors in those areas of care abandon their plans to strike for six days in January, they said.
Continue reading...Matthew Taylor says there is a risk of health service becoming overwhelmed early in new year as pay row continues
Strikes by junior doctors increase the risk that the NHS will become overwhelmed by winter pressures early in the new year, a senior health service leader has warned.
Their walkouts, happening at the same time as hospitals are struggling with the usual surge in cold weather illness, could propel the NHS towards a tipping point, said Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation.
Continue reading...No trains will run on East Midlands and LNER services from London to Scotland will have a limited service
Rail passengers face severe disruption this weekend as two 24-hour strikes by train drivers from different companies halt many long-distance routes.
Saturday’s strikes by members of the Aslef union at LNER and East Midlands kick off a series of similar actions running until Friday, while an overtime ban across all operators in England will also hit services nationwide until next weekend. The action will also affect some cross-border services into Scotland and Wales.
Continue reading...NHS leaders welcome breakthrough as ‘vital step’ towards halting walkouts by various staff groups
Doctors’ leaders have struck a deal with ministers that could end the strikes by hospital consultants that have badly disrupted NHS care for months.
Grassroots members of the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) in England still have to approve the government’s offer. But if medics accept it in referendums then both unions will call off the industrial action that has led to hundreds of thousands of operations and outpatient appointments being cancelled.
Continue reading...Covid tier system introduced in October 2020 and imposed different restrictions on English regions in effort to contain spread of virus. This live blog is closed
At the Covid inquiry Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said that he was not getting information from the government in February about Covid. He said he was “disappointed” by that.
In late February and early March he was getting information from other cities around the world instead, he said. He said this happened even though his foreign affairs team consisted of just three people.
The government generally does give us information about a variety of things happening. I’m disappointed the government weren’t giving us information in February about what they knew then.
Continue reading...Trade unionists from US and Europe stand with staff at Coventry hub over local pay dispute amid global day of action
Hundreds of strikers outside Amazon’s Coventry warehouse were joined on Black Friday by trade unionists from Europe and the US as part of a global campaign calling for better working conditions at the internet retailer.
Wearing orange beanie hats branded with the GMB union logo, activists from Germany, Italy and California, on strike at their respective Amazon workplaces, expressed solidarity with the Coventry strikers, who have taken 28 days of industrial action since January.
Continue reading...Drivers to stage fresh series of 24-hour strikes and overtime ban, as RMT signals possible breakthrough
The train drivers’ union, Aslef, will stage a series of one-day strikes and call an overtime ban across England’s operating companies at the start of December, ratcheting up the national rail dispute again.
Drivers at each company will strike for 24 hours on dates between Saturday 2 and Friday 8 December, and will refuse to work overtime between Friday 1 and Saturday 9 December, causing more disruption for operators that rely on rest day working.
Continue reading...With waiting times on the rise and a challenging winter ahead, analysts claim the ‘financial bottom line’ is being prioritised
Rishi Sunak’s pledge to slash NHS waiting lists has effectively been downgraded, the Observer has been told, amid an increase in the number of patients in England waiting longer than 18 months for treatment.
Hospital leaders are warning that morale is low, staff absences are high, and funds for new equipment and repairs are having to be raided ahead of winter. They have now been told to prioritise controlling costs in favour of some of the extra work being done towards the prime minister’s pledge to bring down waits.
Continue reading...Deal on table would give consultants another 6% rise on top of the 6% Rishi Sunak described as final
Government officials and doctors’ leaders are holding secret talks with the aim of ending strikes by hospital consultants before the start of the NHS’s winter crisis.
In a remarkable move, the deal under discussion would give consultants in England a hefty further pay rise for this year in return for calling off their stoppages. That is despite Rishi Sunak’s previous insistence that he would not revisit the 6% award he described as final.
Continue reading...Leaders say hidden total may be double official tally, as junior doctors, consultants and radiographers prepare more strikes
As many as 2m outpatient appointments and operations have been cancelled as a result of NHS strikes – double the official total – hospital bosses believe.
The NHS Confederation said the true number of care sessions hospitals are not able to provide due to staff walkouts is far higher than the NHS’s 1m figure because so many hospitals now do not book any patients in on strike days, to save having to reschedule them.
Continue reading...Saturday train services halted as Aslef drivers begin industrial action in long-running pay dispute
Rail passengers are facing another day of disruption as a strike by train drivers halts virtually all national rail services in England.
Members of the Aslef union have started a 24-hour walkout in the long-running pay dispute, targeting the start of the Conservative party conference in Manchester.
Continue reading...Latest figures show 1,015,067 ‘episodes of care’ have been postponed since end of last year
More than 1m outpatient appointments and operations have been cancelled since strikes began in December across the NHS in England, figures reveal.
Last week’s four-day stoppage by consultants and junior doctors forced hospitals to reschedule 129,913 more “episodes of care”, taking the total to just over 1m, NHS England said.
Continue reading...BMA also offers to take non-pay investments into account to reach agreement – but No 10 insists pay talks will not be reopened
Hospital consultants in England have offered to call off their strikes if they receive a pay rise of about 12% this year – double the increase that ministers insist is their final offer.
Their proposal, and the disclosure of recent “constructive” conversations with the government, appear to be a conciliatory move by the British Medical Association (BMA) to end their pay dispute.
Continue reading...