"People are dying unnecessarily": Consultants and junior doctors to stage first joint walkout in NHS history
20.09.2023 - 05:59
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
For the first time in the history of the NHS, hospital doctors of every grade are going on strike at the same time. With only Christmas Day-levels of staff, only the most urgent and emergency cases will be prioritised.
NHS leaders have expressed their fears that the first joint walkout 'is likely to cause disruption to patient care unlike anything we’ve seen before'. Doctors at the helm of striking unions have agreed, saying patients will be 'caught in the middle' yet again, but insist that pay and conditions in the NHS must improve if the service is to survive.
Manchester Evening News readers have now had their say, responding on social media to our coverage of the upcoming coordinated strike day, which will hit at 7am tomorrow (September 20). Opinion is split - with some standing in solidarity with NHS staff as they say 'hospitals are in the worst state they have ever been', that pay rises are desperately needed to keep remaining staff around.
But other say they struggle to 'fathom how many will suffer' as industrial action wears on in England. Talks between medical unions and the government appear to have reached a complete nadir, as striking doctors have said walkouts could continue throughout winter - typically the most challenging period for the NHS even without industrial action.
READ MORE: 'This is life or death for the NHS' - top consultant on what this week's major strikes mean
READ MORE: The illness that put 10,000 children in hospital last winter - and how to avoid it
The junior doctor title applies to all grades in the hospital below a consultant. They have been covered by consultants in previous strike action.
But in contrast to strike action among other staff groups, no other clinicians can provide
The website celebfans.org is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can
send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.