Junior doctors on strike enters second day in England, Indian-origin medic calls for talks

London: The health service in England is facing its second day of strikes by junior doctors on Thursday as an Indian-origin medic, also a senior office bearer of their union, urging the government to make a "credible" pay offer so the six-day industrial action can be called off.

With over 1.2 million appointments already rescheduled since industrial action began, Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) Junior Doctors Committee, told the BBC that they are willing to negotiate to end the longest strike in the history of the National Health Service (NHS).

“We strike again today. Tag @BMA_JuniorDocs in all your posts and we'll keep sharing!,” the official X handle of the British Medical Association (BMA) Junior Doctors posted early Thursday morning along with the hashtag #PayRestoration.

We strike again today. Tag @BMA_JuniorDocs in all your posts and we'll keep sharing! 📸

Read our guidance on strike action here: https://t.co/5LuAj3SCBS#PayRestoration pic.twitter.com/TPDwTCP7QP

— Junior Doctors (@BMA_JuniorDocs) January 4, 2024

The X post also provided a link which had guidance (for their units across the country) on strike action. Among other things, the link to the website also has ‘Our aims’, which lists three main demands of the junior doctors in the NHS in England taking strike action in 2023 and 2024.

Apart from the demand to “achieve full pay restoration to reverse the steep decline in pay faced by junior doctors since 2008/9”, the Junior Doctors also want the government to “agree on a mechanism with the Government to prevent any future declines against the cost of living and inflation” and “reform the DDRB (Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body) process so pay increases can be recommended independently and fairly to safeguard the recruitment and retention of junior doctors.” Junior doctors are qualified medical graduates undergoing their specialist training in NHS hospitals and are critical to their operation making up almost 50 per cent of the health service workforce.

They earn, on average, between GBP 29,000 and GBP 40,000 based on years of experience, which can vary between one to nine years. These doctors have been taking industrial action demanding better pay since last year because they claim their NHS salary increases have not been in line with inflation.

The talks between junior doctors and the UK government broke down last month as they rejected an offer of a pay rise averaging 3 per cent, on top of an average of nearly 9 per cent junior doctors received in April last year.

“Anyone from the government could still come to us today and if we thought that the offer was credible, and if we can resume talks and build on that, then we can stop our strike action for the rest of the week,” Trivedi told the BBC on Wednesday.

However, UK Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said junior doctors must call off their strike before she can get back to the negotiating table. “I urge the BMA Junior Doctors Committee to call off their strikes and come back to the negotiating table so we can find a fair and reasonable solution to end the strikes once and for all,” Atkins said in a statement.

“January is typically the busiest time of the year for the NHS and these strikes will have a serious impact on patients across the country. Over 1.2 million appointments have already been rescheduled since industrial action began, including over 88,000 during last month’s strikes. The NHS has again put in place robust contingency plans to protect patient safety and it is vital anyone who needs medical help continues to come forward,” she said.

NHS England is advising patients in a life-threatening emergency to call 999 and for everything else to use the 111 medical helpline.