Friday, February 12, 2016

Second junior doctors' strike goes ahead after talks fail

Thousands of junior doctors take part in a second one-day strike over plans to bring in a new contract that will oblige them to work more weekends. Emergency care is still being provided.

WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2016

NHS England has estimated that over 1,100 in-patient procedures and over 1,700 day procedures have been cancelled.

Last-minute talks failed to avert the strike.

The government had called in the chief executive of Salford Royal NHS Foundation, Sir David Dalton, to try to broker a deal between the British Medical Association (BMA), who are negotiating for the junior doctors, and the NHS Employers, but talks ended on Tuesday without a resolution.

The major sticking point is whether Saturday should in future be considered a normal working day for doctors.

Currently junior doctors get paid extra for working on Saturdays. Under the proposed new contract overtime pay would only be paid after 7pm on Saturdays. During negotiations, the government backtrack slightly, offering to change that to 5pm.

The BMA says it has offered a re-worked package that would retain overtime pay for Saturday working at no extra cost by reducing the government's proposed 11 per cent rise in basic pay.

Dr Johann Malawana, the BMA's junior doctors' committee chairman, tweeted on Wednesday morning: "We presented fully costed & working solution that was rejected due to pride & politics."