Thousands of Doctors Go on Strike in England, Before the UK General Election
Thousands of doctors in England are staging their 11th walkout on Thursday in a long-running dispute with the government over pay and working conditions, disrupting hospital services just days before the UK general election.
The five-day strike by junior doctors shines a spotlight on the troubles besetting the chronically underfunded National Health Service, Britain’s state-funded public health system, a topic that is a top concern for voters going to the polls on July 4.
The British Medical Association, the doctors’ union, say their pay has dropped by a quarter over the last 15 years and have called for a 35 percent pay uplift. The union says newly qualified doctors earn about 15 pounds ($19) an hour — the U.K. minimum wage is just over 10 pounds an hour — though salaries rise rapidly after the first year.
The latest strike begins Thursday and ends on Tuesday, just two days before voters cast their ballots to choose a new House of Commons.
The British Medical Association, the doctors’ union, say their pay has dropped by a quarter over the last 15 years and have called for a 35 percent pay uplift. The union says newly qualified doctors earn about 15 pounds ($19) an hour — the U.K. minimum wage is just over 10 pounds an hour — though salaries rise rapidly after the first year.
Dr. Sumi Manirajan, deputy chair of the junior doctors committee at the union, said that years of underinvestment has resulted in young doctors leaving in droves to countries that offer better pay, with those left behind seriously overworked and underpaid.
