Row over NHS doctor strike deepens as poll suggests public support is waning

Independent

3 days ago

The row between the British Medical Association (BMA) and health leaders over the upcoming doctor strike has deepened as research suggests public support for the action is waning.
NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, hit back at BMA claims that health leaders were putting patients at risk, saying it was actually the 'costly' BMA strike that was risking patient care.
It comes as Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the House of Commons he 'sincerely hopes the BMA will postpone' the 'unnecessary and irresponsible' strikes to continue talks with the Government, which he said had been 'constructive' in recent days.
He said, however, the Government stands 'ready' and 'responsive' if the five-day strike by resident doctors, which is scheduled to start at 7am on Friday, does go ahead.
Earlier, the BMA said NHS England plans for managing the strike could put patients at risk owing to the fact it has ordered hospitals to continue with as much pre-planned care as possible.
Previous strikes by health workers have seen hundreds of thousands of operations and appointments cancelled, but NHS England is taking a different approach this time to managing the strike.
In a letter to hospital trust leaders, it urges the health system to focus on maintaining emergency care, maintaining the flow of patients and 'maintaining elective care to the fullest extent possible' as well as 'priority treatments' such as cancer care.
'It will be important for systems and trusts to try and maintain normal levels of booked activity…' it said, adding: 'Reducing volumes of bookings and rescheduling of appointments and other activity should only happen in exceptional circumstances to safeguard patient safety.'
On Tuesday morning, BMA deputy chairwoman Dr Emma Runswick told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this plan risked patient safety.
She said: 'We've had proven systems over the last decade that have made sure that where we have to take strike action, senior doctors cover urgency and critical care.
'This time round, NHS England are pushing for the continuation of non-urgent and scheduled care in a way that we think at best is confusing and will create on-the-day cancellations – and at worst could be risky and lead to harm in emergency departments and on wards, because senior doctors cannot physically be in two places at once.
'We think that a notional guidance from NHS England which is saying that basically all scheduled work should continue to go ahead has potential to be seriously risky for patients…
'Senior doctors are needed to be freed up in order to provide urgency and critical care.
'We think the vast majority of planned and unscheduled care should be shifted.'
NHS Providers hit back at the BMA's claims, saying it was the strike itself that posed a risk to patients.
Its chief executive, Daniel Elkeles, said: 'The NHS, not the BMA, is putting patients' interests first.
'Given that some patients will be caused undoubted harm if the short-notice strike goes ahead, NHS trusts are doing the responsible thing by not cancelling people's care while talks to avert the strike are ongoing.
'Now is a time for cool heads in the BMA because it's not too late to avoid a damaging, costly strike. NHS trust leaders hope for a breakthrough from talks between Government and the union.
'If the strike goes ahead then NHS trusts will do everything they can to avoid any harm to patients and are planning for as many patients as possible to be cared for.'
It comes as a new YouGov poll showed about half (52%) of people in the UK either 'somewhat oppose' (20%) or 'strongly oppose' (32%) the idea of resident doctors going on strike over pay.
Meanwhile, a third (34%) of the 4,954 adults surveyed either 'somewhat support' (23%) or 'strongly support' (11%) doctor strikes.
YouGov said the proportion supporting the strike over pay has dropped five points since it last asked the question in May.
Then, 48% opposed resident doctors striking, while 39% supported them taking action.
Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Streeting said that before he came into office, 'strikes were crippling the NHS'.
He added: 'Costs ran to £1.7 billion in just one year, and patients saw 1.5 million appointments rescheduled.
'Strikes this week are not inevitable, and I sincerely hope the BMA will postpone this action to continue the constructive talks my team and I have had with them in recent days.
'Regardless, our priority is to keep patients safe, and we will do everything we can to mitigate the impacts of strikes on patients and the disruption that will follow should these totally unnecessary and avoidable strikes go ahead.'
Quizzed by MPs, he said the 'approach we're taking is different from that taken in previous periods of strike action'.
He added: 'NHS leaders have been clear to me that previous rounds of strike action caused much wider levels of harm than previously realised, and there is no reason why planned care in issues like cancer, for example, cancer appointments, as well as other conditions should be treated as somehow less important or second fiddle to other NHS services.
'That is why the chief executive of NHS England has written to NHS leaders asking them to keep routine operations going to the fullest extent possible, as well as continuing priority treatments.
'It will be for local leaders to determine what's possible given staffing levels.
'That's why it's really important that resident doctors do engage with their employers about their determination or not to turn up at work this week, and why again, I just spell out the serious consequences for patients that means that these avoidable and unnecessary strikes should not go ahead.'
Elsewhere, the BMA has also issued strike guidance for consultants regarding the extra pay they can seek for covering work that is not in their contracts.
The BMA 'rate card' says consultants can ask for £188 per hour on weekdays from 7am-7pm and £250 an hour from 7pm to 11pm.
At weekends, the pay claim can rise to £250 per hour from 7am to 11am and £313 per hour for overnight work from 11pm to 7am.
Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, were awarded an average 5.4% pay increase this financial year, following a 22% rise over the previous two years.
However, the BMA says real-terms pay has still fallen by around 20% since 2008, and is pushing for full 'pay restoration'.
Resident doctors are qualified doctors in clinical training.
They have completed a medical degree and can have up to nine years of working experience as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to five years of working and gaining experience to become a GP.