Resident doctors in England will strike again this month, with the BMA urging the Government to call off the action by resuming talks on jobs and pay.
The BMA resident doctors committee has today confirmed doctors will return to the picket lines in the run-up to Christmas, while urging the Government to ‘get a grip on the situation’ by returning to negotiations.
Should it go ahead, the latest round of action will see resident doctors stage full walk-outs from 7am on 17 December until 7am 22 December.
Confirming the new strike dates, BMA resident doctors committee co-chair Jack Fletcher said that, while doctors would rather be treating patients than be on picket lines, continuing inaction with addressing the profession’s concerns meant there was no alternative.
He said: ‘With neither a credible plan to fix the jobs’ crisis for resident doctors nor address their pay erosion coming from Government, we have no choice but to announce more strike dates.
‘However, these do not need to go ahead. Gradually raising pay over a few years and some common-sense fixes to the job security of our doctors are well within the reach of this Government.
‘It would ensure both the long-term strength of our healthcare workforce and spare the country the indignity of seeing unemployed doctors at a time patients are queuing up to even see a GP.’
FLETCHER: No choice but to announce more dates
The announcement of upcoming action, which follows on from a five-day walkout in November, comes just days after RDC wrote to NHS England chief executive Jim Mackey highlighting how desperate and absurd the plight of many doctors applying for jobs had become.
In the 25 November letter, committee members warned that thousands of foundation year 2 candidates seeking training posts in internal medicine had been unable to secure interviews owing to having to compete with more experienced doctors who themselves had been caught up in training place bottlenecks.
Dr Fletcher said: ‘This month we’ve seen the full farcical extent of the jobs’ crisis, with new doctors applying for basic training posts being asked to provide evidence of experience well beyond what would have previously been asked of advanced specialists.
‘It is precisely this sort of situation which is driving doctors to the picket line. But it is not too late for Government to get a grip on the situation.’
With the mandate for industrial action set to expire in January, RDC announced plans last week to once again ballot resident doctors in England on extending the right to strike.
A ‘yes’ vote in the ballot, which opens on 8 December and will run until 2 February next year, would see RDC receive a fresh mandate lasting until August 2026.