Junior doctors at Oxford’s main hospital are holding a four day walk-out as part of national strike action in response to falling real-wages over the past 14 years. Disruptions to appointments are expected but emergency services will continue to operate.
A picket-line has been set-up since Tuesday morning outside the John Radcliffe hospital by junior doctors calling on the Health Secretary to return to negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA) and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA). Over 40,000 junior doctors across the nation are expected to strike over the pay dispute between BMA and the government. Strike action is expected to run from 7am Tuesday 11th to 7am Saturday 15th, according to Oxford University Hospitals (OUH).
The 96-hour industrial action has been described by NHS director Sir Stephen Powis as “probably [going to be] the most disruptive period of action in NHS history”. Around 350,000 appointments have been rescheduled nationally as efforts are made to minimise the impact on health service provision.
The strikes follow claims by the BMA that junior doctors have faced a 26% real-wage cut since 2009. Downing Street has criticised demands for a 35% pay rise as “unreasonable and unaffordable”, stating that they will not negotiate with the BMA until this figure is lowered and the strikes stopped.
The Health Secretary has called the BMA’s actions “disappointing”, saying that “if the BMA is willing to move significantly from this position and cancel strikes we can resume confidential talks and find a way forward, as we have done with other unions”.
Oxford City Councillor and NHS anaesthetist Dr Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini has said online that the strike has her “full support”, calling for pay restoration and tweeting that “[w]e can’t continue looking after the public based on staff good will”.
Doctors across all of OUH’s four hospitals will be striking but OUH has confirmed that urgent and emergency care will still be provided, and encourages patients to continue to attend their appointments if they have not been contacted to reschedule.
