Junior doctor strike: Medic joins picket lines after 12-hour shift in Newcastle
A junior doctor who finished a 12-hour nightshift and went straight onto a picket line in Newcastle has said "it doesn't feel like we are being paid our worth."
Anastasia May, a doctor working in the A&E at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, said: "Over the last few months especially, we've heard a lot pay restoration of 26%. It's not just about the pay cut, but it is also about our worth. Our conditions are worsening year on year."
"It has been difficult for me to see the number of patients coming into the department, the number of hours they are waiting on chairs in corridors, and the number of staff we have got on shift are not enough to delivery the care we need to."
Ms May joins tens of thousands of junior doctors across England who are taking part in the three day strike action.
Watch Helen Ford's report here.
The 72-hour walkout, which began on Monday 13 March, will see operations and appointments cancelled for thousands of patients as doctors join picket lines outside their hospitals.
More than 100,000 appointments have already been postponed this winter after nurses took strike action in a dispute with the government over pay, according to NHS figures.
The British Medical Association (BMA) is demanding a substantial pay rise for doctors, with its latest campaign saying junior medics could earn more per hour if they worked in Pret A Manger.
The BMA has said junior doctors’ pay has fallen in real terms by 26% since 2008/09 and reversing this would require a 35.3% pay rise.
Evelyn Evans, a forensic psychiatrist at the end of her training, said: "If you think now that junior doctors are starting work where they could earn more making coffee or stacking shelves than they do as a junior doctor, it's a sad state of affairs.
"We have seen over the last 15 years our pay being eroded by 26%. We have also seen at the same time the levels of intensity of our work increase.
"We are treating more people, we are treating iller people and we are doing it for less money."
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “It is incredibly disappointing the British Medical Association has declined my offer to enter formal pay negotiations on the condition strikes are paused.
“I hugely value the hard work of junior doctors and urge unions to come to the negotiating table and cancel strikes which risk patient safety and impact efforts to tackle the backlog. I want to find a fair settlement which recognises the crucial role of junior doctors and the wider economic pressures facing the UK.
“I’ve been having constructive and meaningful talks with unions representing nurses, ambulance workers and other non-medical staff, which have agreed to pause strike action, and negotiations will continue this week.
“We have been working closely with NHS England on contingency plans to help protect patient safety during strikes, prioritising emergency, urgent and critical care – but there will inevitably be some disruption for patients.”
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