Junior doctors’ strike: Why are they taking action and what are their demands?

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Junior doctors are on day two of a five-day strike during what is traditionally the most busy time of year for the NHS.

NHS leaders have expressed “disappointment” that talks between the British Medical Association (BMA) and the government broke down and said that the fresh round of industrial action has come at the “worst possible time” for the health service.

Junior doctors have held 28 days of strike action since March. In August some 98 per cent, or 43,400, junior doctor members of the British Medical Association backed a second six-month period of action which could last until early 2024 if the matter is not resolved with the government.

Below, we look at how much junior doctors are paid, what they want and how industrial action could affect the health service.

Have you been affected by the strike? Email rebecca.thomas@independent.co.uk

The BMA is asking the government to reverse a real-term pay cut experienced by the doctors since 2009.

The union has estimated that between 2009 and 2022, junior doctors in England have had a 26 per cent real terms pay cut due to below-inflation pay rises, according to the BMA.

To rectify this, the government would need to award doctors a 35 per cent increase for 2022-23, according to the BMA. However, union leads have previously said is a starting point for negotiations.

Following a month-long negotiation period in November, the BMA’s junior doctor’s committee announced it would hold fresh strikes this month and January after talks broke down.

In a BMA survey conducted earlier this year, which received 3,000 responses, 60 per cent of junior doctors reported low morale and 51 per cent described their desire to continue working in the NHS as low.

In 2016, junior doctor members of the BMA carried out three days of strike action over changes proposed by the government to their contracts. The plan was to reclassify doctors’ normal working week to include Saturdays and late evening working.

Then-health secretary Jeremy Hunt said the new contract would improve patient care at the weekends but junior doctors said it would incentivise unsafe staffing rosters, put patient care at risk and amount to pay cuts of up to 30 per cent.

Three strike days followed but the dispute was eventually resolved when junior doctors voted to take a multi-year pay offer from the government. That guaranteed them a 2 per cent pay increase in 2022-23.

That agreement meant junior doctors have not since been included in the annual review of the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration Body, which makes independent recommendations on wage increases to the government.

Under the 2016 contract junior doctors’ basic pay, depending on their seniority, ranges from £29,384 to £58,398.

According to Full Fact all junior doctors will earn £14.09 per hour in basic pay.

According to the recruitment website Glassdoor, as of February, the average junior doctor’s salary in Canada was $110,361, which is equivalent to £68,133.

Junior doctors in Australia earn an average of £70,000 Australian dollars - around £40,000, according to the site.

During the 2016 strikes, consultants and senior doctors covered the shifts of junior doctors who walked out and emergency care was not that badly impacted.

According to the BMJ, during the 2016 strikes, 300,000 operations were cancelled, while A&E attendances dropped by nearly 7 per cent.

The strike taking place from 19 to 22 December and the strike from 3 to 8 January during what is the hardest time of year for the NHS, particularly for emergency care services.

One hospital has been forced to temporarily close at various points in the coming weeks due to strikes.

Leading health and patient organisations warned that the strikes could lead to patients “stranded” in hospital over Christmas, despite being ready to go home.

The NHS has said emergency and urgent care will be prioritised during the strikes and that “almost all” routine care will be affected.

Since December last year, the NHS has seen more than 1 million patient appointments cancelled due to strikes and incurred an estimated £1 billion in costs.