NHS doctors' strike: Health secretary and BMA to meet next week
Resident doctors were awarded a 5.4% pay rise for this financial year - which will go into pay packets from August - following a 22% increase over the previous two years.But they are arguing that pay in real terms is still around 20% lower than it was in 2008 and have called for the government to set out a pathway to restoring its value.They believe that this year's 5.4% increase doesn't take them far enough down that path.Health department sources have told the BBC the health secretary is sympathetic to improving working conditions for resident doctors, but he won't budge on salaries.After the BMA's strike announcement, Streeting called the strike "unnecessary and unreasonable", adding: "The NHS is hanging by a thread - why on earth are they threatening to pull it?"He said the government was "ready and willing" to work with the BMA, but any further strike action would be a disaster for patients and push back the progress made in reducing waiting lists in England.BMA resident doctor committee co-chairs, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, said on Wednesday they had been left with "no choice" but to strike without a "credible offer to keep us on the path to restore our pay".Lord Robert Winston, a professor and TV doctor who was a pioneer of IVF treatment, resigned from the BMA on Friday over the planned strikes.In an interview with The Times, he urged against strike action and said it could damage people's trust in the profession.Resident doctors took part in 11 separate strikes during 2023 and 2024.In order to end the previous strikes last year the incoming Labour government awarded a backdated increase worth 22% over two years.The action in England will not affect resident doctors in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, who negotiate directly with their devolved governments on pay.Resident doctors' basic salaries in England range from £37,000 to £70,000 a year for a 40-hour week, depending on experience, with extra payments for working nightshifts and weekends.That does not include the latest 5.4% average pay award for this year which will start to be paid into wage packets from August.
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Palestinian invokes ECHR ‘right to family life' to enter UK
A Palestinian woman has used the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to access medical treatment in Britain, despite government objections. The 69 year-old was allowed to enter the country to visit her daughter and receive private medical treatment for spinal and mental health conditions, after arguing that she had the right to a family life under article eight of the ECHR. The decision was made by an immigration judge who rejected the Government's argument that it could open the floodgates to similar claims from other conflict zones. The Home Office argued it could lead to a 'proliferation' of a 'very large number' of applications for medical treatment in the UK from people living in Gaza and other war zones. It said this would 'undermine' immigration controls and put pressure on stretched public services in Britain. However, an upper immigration tribunal ruled in the Palestinian woman's favour, because the Home Office's rejection of her visitor's visa 'interfered' with her right to a family life. She claimed her daughter could not visit or meet her anywhere else. The ruling will reignite demands for Britain to quit or reform the ECHR, which has been accused by senior Labour, Conservative and Reform UK politicians of undermining Britain's border controls. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, is proposing to curb the right of illegal migrants to use article eight to stay in the UK, by making it harder to claim their removal from the UK breaches their right to a family life. A Home Office spokesman said the Government's new legal framework would 'give applicants, caseworkers and the courts the clarity they need, so that our immigration rules are applied in a way which strikes the right balance between individual family rights and the wider public interest'. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: 'This is another ludicrous decision by an immigration judge openly defying the democratically elected Government's policy. 'We can't have unlimited immigration from every conflict zone in the world and we can't have the NHS used for everyone around the would who wants to use it.' He urged the Government to 'urgently' repeal the Human Rights Act (HRA), which enshrines the ECHR in UK law for immigration matters, to 'stop these nonsense decisions by activist judges who abuse the HRA to make up their own new immigration rules'. Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, which advocates quitting the ECHR, said: 'What guarantees are there that this woman will not claim asylum once here? We should not let any Palestinian people settle here given [the] risk of extremism.' It follows a similar case revealed by The Telegraph, in which a family of Palestinians successfully argued under the ECHR that the risks in Gaza to their family life were so exceptional that they should be allowed to come to the UK under the Government's Ukrainian refugee scheme. In the more recent case, the Palestinian grandmother claimed denying her a visitor's visa would jeopardise her family life with her daughter, a charity worker living in the UK. She said she wanted to develop the relationship through the visit, after years of living apart but maintaining close contact. Lawyers for the family rejected claims by the Home Office that she might stay longer than the six months on a visitor's visa, because her home and life was still in Gaza. Her daughter with whom she will stay is paying her £55,000 medical fees. The Home Office argued that under its rules such relationships and short-term visits were not covered by the ECHR, and were generally restricted to spouses or children seeking to come to the UK. It told the court: 'The Secretary of State is concerned about the potential proliferation of applications for entry clearance from individuals from Gaza and other conflict zones if [they] are granted entry clearance because they have a family member in the UK who has been providing them with financial or emotional support.' Lawyers for the department said the case could also throw into doubt the Government's policy for resettling refugees by making schemes such as those for Ukrainians, Hong Kongers and Afghans effectively redundant, if anyone from a conflict zone could use human rights laws to come to the UK. They argued that if article eight was extended to Gaza 'there would be little need for such schemes'. However, Rebecca Owens, the upper tribunal judge, ruled in favour of the Palestinian family, noting that the Home Office rejection of the application had a serious impact on the mental health of the daughter. The tribunal ruling read: 'We find that the refusal of entry clearance amounts to an interference with this family life because the sponsor is physically unable to visit her mother in Gaza to develop their family life in that country and it is not suggested that during the current time they could spend time together elsewhere. 'We find that the appellant's intention of coming to the UK is genuinely to access medical treatment as a visitor and have some respite. 'We find that she does not want to settle permanently in the UK and that the application for private medical treatment is a genuine application which has not been made to circumvent immigration control.'
Metro
2 hours ago
- Metro
The reason why this famous TV doctor travelled 360 miles for surgery
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BreakingNews.ie
2 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Child in Liverpool reportedly dies after contracting measles
A child in Liverpool has died after contracting measles, it has been reported. According to The Sunday Times newspaper, the child was ill with measles and other health problems and was receiving treatment at the Alder Hey Children's Hospital. Advertisement Measles, an infection that typically starts with cold-like symptoms followed by a rash and sometimes small spots in the mouth, is contagious and can lead to serious problems such as meningitis, blindness and seizures if it spreads to other parts of the body. A statement from the Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust said: 'To respect patient confidentiality, we can't comment on individual cases. 'We are concerned about the increasing number of children and young people who are contracting measles. Measles is a highly contagious viral illness which can cause children to be seriously unwell, requiring hospital treatment, and in rare cases, death. 'The number of children being treated at Alder Hey for effects and complications of measles is increasing (we have treated 17 since June). Advertisement 'We treat children with a range of conditions and illnesses in our hospital, including those with compromised immunity due to other health issues, making them more susceptible to infections, including measles. 'We can prevent people, including children, from contracting measles through vaccination. Please protect yourself and vulnerable children and young people by ensuring you are fully vaccinated.' The child is believed to be the second to succumb to an acute measles infection in Britain this decade. The news comes amid a decline in the uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in the UK, as experts said only 84 per cent of five-year-old children in England have had the two doses, with uptake 'much lower' in areas like Liverpool and parts of London. Advertisement A Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) report released earlier this month determined uptake of vaccines in the UK has stalled over the last decade and is, in many cases, declining. None of the routine childhood vaccinations have met the target for 95 per cent coverage since 2021, meaning British youngsters are at risk of catching illnesses such as measles, meningitis and whooping cough. The report said while some families are hesitant to vaccinate due to fears about the jabs, many face issues that could be resolved with more support, including difficulties booking and attending appointments and a lack of continuity of care, with many parents seeing a different GP or clinician at each visit.
