The leader of Britain’s doctors has urged Rishi Sunak to use his personal authority to broker a settlement in the junior doctors’ dispute that is set to again paralyse the NHS.
Prof Philip Banfield, the chair of the British Medical Association (BMA), has written to the prime minister asking him to intervene in the bitter pay row.
His initiative comes as thousands of junior doctors in England launched a three-day strike at 7am on Wednesday that has forced hospitals to cancel large numbers of outpatient appointments and operations.
In his letter, Banfield told Sunak that he needed to get involved because junior doctors – those below the level of consultant and including some trainee GPs – do not believe that Steve Barclay, the health secretary, has the power to agree a deal with the BMA that would end the stoppages.
This week’s walkout is the third the BMA’s junior doctors committee (JDC) has called since March as part of its campaign to try to force ministers to give juniors a 35% pay rise, arguing that they have suffered a 26.2% drop in the value of their salaries since 2008.
The last one, which lasted for four days in April, led to 196,000 hospital appointments being rescheduled and saw an average of 27,000 juniors strike each day.
“I am writing to ask you to urgently meet with me and our junior doctors committee co-chairs to find a way through the dispute,” Banfield told the prime minister. He added that while the Welsh and Scottish governments have recognised the real terms cuts in junior doctors’ pay, “your government still refuses to acknowledge pay erosion”.
He added: “This has sent a clear message to our members that you have not listened and do not value them.”
Meanwhile, NHS England’s national medical director has asked the public to behave sensibly during the ongoing heatwave in order to reduce pressure on the service during the strike.
People should drink plenty of water, use sun cream and avoid spending too long in the sun, Prof Sir Stephen Powis said. They should also check on friends, relatives or neighbours who may be vulnerable.
Barclay said the latest strike was “extremely disappointing” and “will put patients’ safety and our efforts to cut waiting lists at risk”. He insisted that in recent meetings with the JDC he had made “a fair and reasonable opening offer” but that the committee’s leaders had torpedoed the talks by calling this week’s strike.
The JDC co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said that junior doctors are “in despair” at the government’s “intransigence”. Barclay’s recent offer amounted to just a 5% pay rise, which “beggars belief”, they added.
