Latest news with #BMA
Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Doctors' strikes 'could last more than six months' as first NHS walkout ends
BStrike leaders from the British Medical Association staged a picket line at Health Secretary Wes Streeting's local hospital today amid renewed calls for pay talks Striking doctors have suggested walkouts could go on for more than six months if Wes Streeting does not make them an improved offer. Strike leaders staged a picket line at the Health Secretary's local hospital on the final day of a five-day strike. Resident doctors in the British Medical Association have voted to secure a legal mandate to strike until January 2026. The BMA's resident doctors committee co-chair Dr Ross Nieuwoudt was asked outside King George Hospital in Ilford, east London, whether strikes could go on after then into next year. He replied: "We are incredibly hopeful that Wes Streeting and the Government at large see sense and come to talk to us now so that doesn't even have to be a consideration. That would require a new ballot but we're hoping it doesn't have to get there at all. "All Wes Streeting needs to do is talk to us now; the door is open. That is the best-case scenario... for him to come and talk to us and resolve this dispute." The British Medical Association is holding out for a full return to 2008 levels of pay, arguing that by the Retail Price Index Measure of inflation their real terms salaries are down a fifth since then. Mr Streeting said last week that the BMA's resident doctors committee co-chairs had 'seriously underestimated me' after they ended last ditch talks to avert the strike. The Government has refused to budge on the headline pay rise of 5.4% - pointing out it is an above inflation deal for the second year running - but had been negotiating on other issues such as the cost of training. Speaking from the picket line no Tuesday, Dr Shivam Sharma, resident doctor in north London, said: 'We've had our pay cut by over a fifth but we don't see fewer patients, we don't do less work, in fact our work has become harder. What we're asking for is for a doctor who 's paid just over £18 an hour to be paid just over £22 an hour. 'We're not asking for this money in one go. We're asking for it over a number of years… So please Mr Streeting… do the right thing by everyone.' The BMA would not be drawn on whether and how quickly it will start planning more strikes. Its resident doctors committee co-chair Dr Melissa Ryan said: "There doesn't need to be a single day of strike action. Wes Streeting knows what he has to do. If he wants to resolve the dispute, he has to contact us and present a credible offer. "We do have a mandate that is going all the way into January but... it's a damn shame we have to do a single day of strike action and Mr Streeting can prevent that." NHS officials have pledged that cancelled bookings would be rescheduled within two weeks but warned of knock-on impacts for other patients. Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at NHS Confederation, said: "Resident doctors have recently had a very substantial increase in their pay and the Government has been pretty clear that at the moment, there isn't more money to be negotiated. Clearly the Government is quite keen to have those discussions about other non-pay factors, like workforce conditions. "I think that the hope of all healthcare leaders is that the BMA will get around the table with the Government and figure out a solution to this, because what absolutely nobody wants to see is any further cases of industrial action after this one." The BMA has also launched a "linked dispute" with the Government over a lack of places for doctors in training. The union said that this year there were more than 30,000 resident doctors applying for just 10,000 specialty training places. A poll by the union, conducted on 4,400 doctors over the last week, found that 52% of resident doctors completing their second year of training - when they enter specialty training - do not have substantive employment lined up from August. In a joint statement, co-chairs Dr Ross Nieuwoudt and Dr Melissa Ryan said: 'With more than six million patients on waiting lists in England, it's maddening that a third of resident doctors say they cannot get a job. Across the NHS, this means potentially thousands of UK doctors are left in employment limbo when patients desperately need their care. 'Commitments from the Government to address this don't go far enough or are too vague to convince us that they understand the gravity of the situation, so we're making clear that, alongside pay, we are entering a dispute and demanding action so that no UK-trained, capable, doctor is left underemployed in the NHS.'
Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Health
- Telegraph
NHS chief accuses BMA of ‘extortion'
The head of the NHS attacked the British Medical Association (BMA) for demanding 'extortionate pay' amid a strike row. Sir Jim Mackey, the NHS chief executive, criticised the doctors' union in a message to NHS hospital trust leaders. Junior – now resident – doctors have entered the last of a five-day strike that began on Friday. The BMA has rejected 18 emergency requests by NHS hospitals for striking doctors to cross the picket line and help. Hospitals are able to make emergency requests for help to striking doctors – called 'derogations' – to help stop patients coming to harm, such as in emergency departments and cancer care. However, Sir Jim said that of the 18 rejected requests, the BMA would only support half of these 'if extortionate pay rates were offered to striking doctors'. In a message seen by The Telegraph, he said they had worked to 'overhaul the process for patient safety mitigations' with nine requests approved by Sunday night. But he added: 'Unfortunately, despite all requests being made and verified by senior medics, 18 have been rejected by the BMA, with half of those rejections saying the BMA would support only if extortionate pay rates were offered to striking doctors.' He encouraged NHS bosses to keep putting them forward where they were needed. The exemptions are requested by senior NHS medics in exceptional circumstances to protect patient safety and must be agreed on a case-by-case basis by BMA leaders, including chairman, Dr Tom Dolphin. As of Sunday evening, there had been 47 requests for 125 doctors, according to the BMA. Some are pending or were withdrawn. The resident doctors are demanding a 29 per cent pay rise to return them to 2008 levels of pay. They have been awarded a 28.9 per cent pay rise since Labour came into power, including a 5.4 per cent rise for this financial year. Nurses, who are expected to overwhelmingly vote to reject their 3.6 per cent pay rise, could also ballot to take industrial action later this year. One emergency request rejected by the BMA was for a resident doctor to carry out biopsies on men with suspected prostate cancer at Milton Keynes Hospital. The doctor subsequently volunteered to return to work and was praised by Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, for their 'bravery'. He said it 'ensured these men got the care they deserve'. Of the requests granted by the BMA, one was for a doctor to return to work on a neonatal ward caring for new born babies in Nottingham City Hospital. The BMA said it was launching a separate, related dispute with the Government over 'training bottlenecks'. A survey of 1,053 resident doctors finishing their foundation training found that 52 per cent had not secured a job for next month. After two years of foundation training, resident doctors begin speciality training to become consultants or GPs. The BMA said this year there had been more than 30,000 doctors applying for just 10,000 posts. Dr Ross Nieuwoudt and Dr Melissa Ryan, BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs said:'It's absurd that in a country where the Government says bringing down NHS waiting lists is one of its top priorities, not only is it not prepared to restore doctors' pay, but it also won't provide jobs for doctors ready, willing and capable to progress in their careers. 'Commitments from the Government to address this don't go far enough or are too vague to convince us that they understand the gravity of the situation, so we're making clear that, alongside pay, we are entering a dispute and demanding action so that no UK-trained, capable, doctor is left underemployed in the NHS.' It comes as health workers represented by the trade union, Unite, voted to reject the 3.6 per cent pay award for this financial year. Some 89 per cent rejected the deal, with the union saying it was prepared to take strike action. It represents a range of NHS staff including paramedics, healthcare assistants, and cleaners. Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: 'When it came into power this Government was clear that the NHS was broken. But staff are still leaving in droves and morale is still at an all-time low. The NHS can't be repaired while the Government continues to erode pay and drastically cut NHS budgets.' Health workers in the GMB union have also rejected the pay deal while the Royal College of Nursing is due to announce a ballot of its members this week.
The Guardian
14 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
The right wants to kill off the NHS. Striking doctors are playing into their hands
There were no pickets when I set out at the weekend to talk to striking doctors. Not even at St Thomas' hospital, a prime site opposite the Houses of Parliament, or at Guy's at London Bridge. 'It's a bit sparse,' said the duty officer from the British Medical Association, the doctors' union. The British Medical Journal (owned by the BMA but with editorial freedom) ran the headline: 'Striking resident doctors face heckling and support on picket line, amid mixed public response.' Public support has fallen, with 52% of people 'somewhat' or 'strongly' opposing the strikes and only 34% backing them. Alastair McLellan, the editor of the Health Service Journal, after ringing around hospitals told me fewer doctors were striking than last time, which isn't surprising given that only 55% voted in the BMA ballot. Managers told him these strikes were less disruptive than the last ones. But even a weaker strike harms patients and pains a government relying on falling waiting lists. 'When you're operating on the margins, it takes very little disruption to send waiting lists up again,' McLellan said. Strikes are costly, since consultants have to be paid to fill shifts, which is typically more expensive. One hospital manager asked me wryly: 'Have you tried paying for an out-of-hours emergency plumber or electrician?' This time Jim Mackey, the head of NHS England, is playing it tough. He told medical directors on Monday to warn doctors that anyone striking on one of their 12 compulsory training days would forfeit their qualification – and not to let strikers take up locum shifts on non-strike days to make up for the money they've lost. No more Mr Nice Guy. Everyone employed by the NHS will get an above-inflation pay rise this year, which is less than the 5.4% (comprising a 4% rise and a consolidated £750 payment) that resident doctors will receive. Nurses and ambulance crews have just voted overwhelmingly against a pay award of 3.6%. That was only a consultative ballot, leaving plenty of time for negotiations that might avoid holding a full strike ballot. Consultants are now balloting too. These looming demands make it vanishingly unlikely that Wes Streeting will give even more money to striking resident doctors, who have already received the top NHS offer. Mackey plays the hard man, but Streeting's emollience is over. He seems indignant and offended by the BMA. His first act as health secretary was to end the resident doctors' 44 days of strikes between March 2023 and July 2024 with a generous 22% pay rise, even while the rightwing press accused him of bowing to 'union paymasters'. Making peace was his welcome political signal that the party of the NHS was setting about repairing Tory damage. There was hope for goodwill and patience from healthcare workers. So the BMA coming back for more within a year was a shock, and a slap in the face for Streeting. The BMA is kicking a government that had been well-disposed towards it. With Tory and Liberal Democrat peers attempting to block the government's radical employment rights bill, Labour's enemies will relish this timely assistance from the strike. A piece on CapX, a comment site owned and produced by the Centre for Policy Studies, called the striking doctors 'Scargills in white coats' with 'blood on their hands', which is of course the literal truth, given what they do at work (Tom Dolphin, the new BMA chair, is a consultant anaesthetist who works in trauma surgery; his job involves 'a fair amount of stabbings, occasional shootings, assaults [and] falls from height'). Keir Starmer has warned that the strikes 'play into the hands' of those who do not want the NHS to 'succeed in its current form'. Vultures are circling: Nigel Farage talks of private insurance; the International Monetary Fund, in its great unwisdom, recently suggested the better-off should pay for NHS services; while the piece on CapX echoed the right's glee at the strike: 'The problem here isn't just that the BMA is populated by socialist thugs, it's that the NHS is a socialist system.' The NHS is ever ready to rescue us all, regardless of status – that is why doctors and nurses top public respect charts, and why they have much to lose as the public turns against them. 'When the BMA asks, 'What's the difference between a Labour government and a Conservative government?', I would say a 28.9% pay rise and a willingness to work together to improve the working conditions and lives of doctors,' Streeting said in vain last week. In a timely contrast, Kemi Badenoch has declared that the Tories would ban doctors' strikes, putting them under the same restrictions that apply to police officers and soldiers. Both sides in this strike are obdurate. 'This could be a marathon. We could be doing this until Christmas or maybe beyond,' the deputy chief executive of NHS England has glumly warned. Streeting says the negotiation door is always open, but the BMA says there's no point without cash on the table. Bad blood between them springs from the negotiations: talks were going well until the BMA resident doctors' committee told its co-chairs that it could not approve the government's deal because it did not address the BMA's demand that resident doctors receive a 29% pay rise over the next few years. Yet Streeting's offer tackled serious grievances: years of bad planning left 20,000 resident doctors without specialist training places, stuck in a bottleneck that he promised to resolve. The BMA damaged people's sympathy for the doctors by absurdly comparing their pay to that of a coffee barista. Resident doctors can expect to be on a steep annual trajectory, averaging £43,400 in year one and £51,600 in year two; as new consultants they will get £105,000, while GP partners earn as much as £160,000. The word in the corridors is that the BMA is losing support across the NHS and among its own members, Nick Hulme, the CEO of the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS foundation trust, told me. He said some of his consultants had this week resigned from the BMA. So has the fertility pioneer Robert Winston. History may reassure the BMA that the public will always trust doctors over politicians. This time, the public backs those trying to cut waiting lists more than the strikers who are adding to them. Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
The Guardian
16 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
The right wants to kill off the NHS. Striking doctors are playing into their hands
There were no pickets when I set out at the weekend to talk to striking doctors. Not even at St Thomas' hospital, a prime site opposite the Houses of Parliament, or at Guy's at London Bridge. 'It's a bit sparse,' said the duty officer from the British Medical Association, the doctors' union. The British Medical Journal (owned by the BMA but with editorial freedom) ran the headline: 'Striking resident doctors face heckling and support on picket line, amid mixed public response.' Public support has fallen, with 52% of people 'somewhat' or 'strongly' opposing the strikes and only 34% backing them. Alastair McLellan, the editor of the Health Service Journal, after ringing around hospitals told me fewer doctors were striking than last time, which isn't surprising given that only 55% voted in the BMA ballot. Managers told him strikes were less disruptive than the last ones. But even a weaker strike harms patients and pains a government relying on falling waiting lists. 'When you're operating on the margins, it takes very little disruption to send waiting lists up again,' McLellan said. Strikes are costly, since consultants have to be paid to fill shifts, which is typically more expensive. One hospital manager asked me wryly: 'Have you tried paying for an out-of-hours emergency plumber or electrician?' This time Jim Mackey, the head of NHS England, is playing it tough. He told medical directors on Monday to warn doctors that anyone striking on one of their 12 compulsory training days would forfeit their qualification, and not to let strikers take up locum shifts on non-strike days to make up for the money they've lost. No more Mr Nice Guy. Everyone employed by the NHS will get an above-inflation pay rise this year, which is less than the 5.4% (comprising a 4% rise and a consolidated £750 payment) that resident doctors will receive. Nurses and ambulance crews have just voted overwhelmingly against a pay award of 3.6%. That was just a consultative ballot, leaving plenty of time for negotiations that might avoid holding a full strike ballot. Consultants are now balloting too. These looming demands make it vanishingly unlikely Wes Streeting will give even more money to striking resident doctors, who have already received the top NHS offer. Mackey plays the hard man, but Streeting's emollience is over. He seems indignant and offended by the BMA. His first act as health secretary was to end the resident doctors' 44 days of strikes between March 2023 and July 2024 with a generous 22% pay rise, even while the rightwing press accused him of bowing to 'union paymasters'. Making peace was his welcome political signal that the party of the NHS was setting about repairing Tory damage. There was hope for goodwill and patience from healthcare workers. So the BMA coming back for more within a year was a shock, and a slap in the face for Streeting. The BMA is kicking a government that had been well-disposed towards it. With Tory and Liberal Democrat peers attempting to block the government's radical employment rights bill, Labour's enemies will relish this timely assistance from the strike. A piece on CapX, a comment site owned and produced by the Centre for Policy Studies, called the striking doctors 'Scargills in white coats' with 'blood on their hands', which is of course the literal truth, given what they do at work (Tom Dolphin, the new BMA chair, is a consultant anaesthetist who works in trauma surgery; his job involves 'a fair amount of stabbings, occasional shootings, assaults [and] falls from height'). Keir Starmer has warned that the strikes 'play into the hands' of those who do not want the NHS to 'succeed in its current form'. Vultures are circling: Nigel Farage talks of private insurance; the International Monetary Fund, in its great unwisdom, recently suggested the better-off should pay for NHS services; while the piece on CapX echoed the right's glee at the strike: 'The problem here isn't just that the BMA is populated by socialist thugs, it's that the NHS is a socialist system.' The NHS is ever ready to rescue us all, regardless of status – that is why doctors and nurses top public respect charts, and why they have much to lose as the public turns against them. 'When the BMA asks, 'What's the difference between a Labour government and a Conservative government?', I would say a 28.9% pay rise and a willingness to work together to improve the working conditions and lives of doctors,' Streeting said in vain last week. In a timely contrast, Kemi Badenoch has declared that the Tories would ban doctors' strikes, putting them under the same restrictions that apply to police officers and soldiers. Both sides in this strike are obdurate. 'This could be a marathon. We could be doing this until Christmas or maybe beyond,' the deputy chief executive of NHS England has glumly warned. Streeting says the negotiation door is always open, but the BMA says there's no point without cash on the table. Bad blood between them springs from the negotiations: talks were going well until the BMA resident doctors' committee told its co-chairs that it could not approve the government's deal because it did not address the BMA's demand that resident doctors receive a 29% pay rise over the next few years. Yet Streeting's offer tackled serious grievances: years of bad planning left 20,000 resident doctors without specialist training places, stuck in a bottleneck that he promised to resolve. The BMA damaged people's sympathy for the doctors by absurdly comparing their pay to that of a coffee barista. Resident doctors can expect to be on a steep annual trajectory, averaging £43,400 in year one and £51,600 in year two; as new consultants they will get £105,000, while GP partners earn as much as £160,000. The word in the corridors is that the BMA is losing support across the NHS, as well as among its own members, Nick Hulme, the CEO of the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS foundation trust, told me. He said some of his consultants had this week resigned from the BMA. So has the fertility pioneer Robert Winston. History may reassure the BMA that the public will always trust doctors over politicians. This time, the public backs those trying to cut waiting lists more than the strikers who are adding to them. Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
Bangkok Post
a day ago
- General
- Bangkok Post
City Hall waste-sorting campaign falls flat
While the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) gears up to implement a new scheme designed to encourage households to sort out their rubbish, many residents say they are unaware of the changes set to come into effect in about two months' time. Under the new waste collection scheme, residents who separate their rubbish correctly and submit photo evidence via the BKK Waste Pay app will pay the current monthly rate of 20 baht. Those who fail to do so will be charged 60 baht for six months before becoming eligible to reapply for the lower rate. To promote the scheme, BMA has launched several public relations campaigns to encourage households to start sorting their waste before the new rates come into effect on Oct 1. However, several residents interviewed by the Bangkok Post said they are unaware of the BMA's initiative, although they were quick to note that they are not opposed to the scheme and recognised its environmental value. They also called on the city's administration to ramp up its campaign to ensure the scheme's success. Kitti Taengchat, 59, who lives in Bangna with his family of six, said he only learned about the campaign from his wife a few days ago. "At first, I thought it was unfair -- an extra burden in this tough economy. But my wife explained that if we separate our waste, we can keep paying the original 20 baht," he said. He said the benefits are clear. "We have always sorted food scraps from general waste anyway. It smells if you don't. Some families even compost it. Elderly people at home can help with this-- it gives them something useful to do." However, he said, many others, especially older residents, won't understand the changes without proper guidance. "I'm out of the house from morning to evening. If the BMA wants this to work, they have to speak directly to people -- especially the elderly -- and explain clearly." Uneven awareness In more affluent areas like Phaya Thai district, however, residents are more informed. Phuchatr Guna-Tilaka, a homeowner, said he learned about the changes through multiple media sources. "I support the policy. Not because of the money, but because it's about changing our mindset. In the past, people would throw anything anywhere and leave it to the cleaners to deal with. Now, people are starting to realise it's their own responsibility." But he said the need to register to be eligible for the reduced rate may deter participation. "It's quite complicated. You need a smartphone to download the app. Some people don't have smartphones. Elderly people can't easily go to district offices. The system needs to be made simpler and more accessible." That said, many condo residents interviewed by the Post say they are unaware of the looming change. Prattapas Wanichkul, who lives in a condominium in the Lat Phrao area, said he wasn't aware of the policy at all. "I thought the waste fee was already included in the maintenance fee I pay yearly," he said. "But if this is happening, then the juristic office should inform us and encourage everyone to sort waste. It's about forming good habits. I think people today are more environmentally aware." Communication Is Key Pornphrom Vikitsreth, Chief Sustainability Officer of Bangkok and adviser to the governor, admitted that awareness was initially low when registration was first opened. "At the beginning, people saw the news but didn't act. It was still too early," he said. The BMA has since adapted its strategy, deploying staff to community centres, public parks, and other high-traffic areas to help people register in person. This hands-on approach has led to a significant increase -- he claimed an average of 8,000 households now register per day. As of now, around 140,000–150,000 households have registered. This figure, however, is still below the BMA's target of 250,000 households. He said residents can register via three main channels: the BKK Waste Pay app, their local district offices, or through BMA campaigners who are deployed to various communities to help. Bangkok generates an average of 10 million tonnes of waste per year, which costs the city approximately 7 billion baht annually to collect. However, BMA receives only around 500 million baht in waste collection fees each year. This fee structure has not been revised in over two decades, he said. Mr Pornphrom stressed that the policy isn't about money, but long-term change. "This isn't only a waste management initiative. It's a way to build a culture of sustainability in Bangkok," he said. Even condominium and gated community residents can participate through group registrations managed by their building's juristic office. While the BMA won't dictate how maintenance fees should be adjusted, the cost savings from proper sorting remain clear. "We want Bangkokians to see waste as something that needs to be managed responsibly," said Mr Pornphrom.
