York Hospital patients face cancelled ops as junior doctors strike

They have asked for their earnings to be restored to 2008 levels. The government says this would mean a pay rise of 35 per cent and is ‘unaffordable’.

York Hospital says junior doctors make up 49 per cent of its workforce, so this week’s strike action will ‘have a significant impact’.

It says it will be prioritising urgent and emergency treatment.

“Patients can continue to access care from our emergency departments, maternity services and critical services for inpatients,” a spokesperson said.

“But it is even more important people choose services wisely over this period so that care is available to patients who need it most.

“This includes using 111 online as the first port of call for health needs and continuing to only use 999 if it is a life-threatening emergency.”

Junior doctors on the picket line at the hospital today apologised to patients for the disruption – and stressed they did not want to have to go on strike.

But they said the future of the NHS was at stake.

Dr Hester Baverstock, a registrar in cardiology at the hospital, said the most recently qualified doctors, with five years of training under their belt, were making life-saving decisions day in, day out, for just £27,000 a year.

When the long hours worked by junior doctors were taken into account, that amounted to about £14 an hour, she said.

Many young doctors completed their training with debts of up to £70,000. That, combined with their low salary, meant they had very little chance even of getting on the housing ladder.

Junior doctors simply want a pay rise that will restore their earnings to 2008 levels, Dr Baverstock said.

She said burned out-medics were already leaving for places like Australia or New Zealand, where they could earn much more - or else were simply quitting medicine altogether.

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Dr Baverstock - who worked three 12-hour shifts over the bank holiday, during which she and her team resuscitated several heart attack victims - said increasingly she and other junior doctors felt they could no longer give the quality of care that patients deserved.

“We do not want to be here (on the picket line),” she said. “To patients, we can only apologise.

“We choose to work in the NHS for the benefit of patients. I would like to work for the NHS for the rest of my life. But I’m not optimistic. Sometimes now we are not able to deliver the care that we want to be able to deliver.”

Dr Marawa Zaki came from Egypt to work as a junior doctor in the NHS.

The health service is held up as a model for good health care across countries in the Middle East, he said.

Dr Hester Baverstock, left, and Dr Marawa Zaki on the picket line at York Hospital today (Image: Stephen Lewis)

But he is becoming disillusioned.

On some days, he said, the job can be hugely satisfying. But at other times the pressures are so great he finds himself questioning his future.

“Sometimes I have to ask myself ‘what am I doing here? Can I come back in the next day?’” he said.

An estimated 350,000 operations across the country will have to be cancelled because of this week’s four days of action by members of the British Medical Association (BMA).

The union has asked for a ‘full pay restoration’ that the Government says would amount to a 35 per cent pay rise – which ministers say is unaffordable.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “It is extremely disappointing the BMA has called strike action for four consecutive days.”

He said the demand for a 35 per cent pay rise was ‘unreasonable’.

“If the BMA is willing to move significantly from this position and cancel strikes we can resume confidential talks,” he said.