The British Medical Association has announced that junior doctors in England will strike on 13, 14 and 15 March amid the increasingly bitter dispute over pay.
Up to 37,000 junior doctors voted for strike action in a recent ballot by the BMA, after the health secretary, Steve Barclay, refused to attend a meeting to negotiate pay.
Junior doctors account for more than 40% of the medical workforce. The term covers those who have recently graduated from medical school and those who have years of experience working on the frontline.
The BMA said junior doctors were “demoralised, angry and no longer willing to work for wages that have seen a real terms decline of over 26% in the past 15 years.”
The co-chairs of the BMA junior doctors’ committee, Dr Rob Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, said they have not been provided any information on why the government hasn’t offered to negotiate with them, or specified what they need to do for negotiations to begin.
They added: “We are left with no option but to proceed with this action.
“Make no mistake, this strike was absolutely in the government’s gift to avert; they know it, we know it and our patients also need to know it.”
The three-day strike begins and ends at 7am from the 13 March where doctors will walk out of both routine and emergency care.
Miriam Deakin, director of policy at NHS Providers, said: “Trust leaders are deeply concerned by the details of the BMA junior doctors’ 72-hour strike next month.
“The possibility of a full stoppage of work by striking junior doctors in this period, including nights and on-call shifts, will have significant ramifications for patient care.”
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