Junior doctors in England are continuing to stage strikes and an NHS palliative care doctor has explained why.
Former broadcast journalist Dr Rachel Clarke - an author of three Sunday Times bestselling books - has taken to social media to give her view on the ongoing dispute between government and health workers.
Just last week, the British Medical Association (BMA) said it gave the government 'a final opportunity to make an offer and avoid strikes'.
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The union has since announced that junior doctors will stage a strike on 27 June to 2 July, in the run-up to the General Election.
Opening on the pay disparity between junior doctors and other professionals, Dr Clarke wrote on X: "Out of hours plumber £80-£200/hr.
"Out of hours mechanic £80-£200/hr.
"Out of hours electrician £80-£200/hr.
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"But Sunak thinks these junior doctors with £100k of debt deserve only £22/hr for extra locum shifts after working a 48 hour week paid at £13/hr.
"No wonder they're striking."
This comes after the co-chairmen of the BMA junior doctors committee, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, said in a statement: “We made clear to the Government that we would strike unless discussions ended in a credible pay offer.
“For more than 18 months we have been asking Rishi Sunak to put forward proposals to restore the pay junior doctors have lost over the past 15 years - equal to more than a quarter in real terms.
“When we entered mediation with Government this month we did so under the impression that we had a functioning government that would soon be making an offer.
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“Clearly no offer is now forthcoming.
“Junior doctors are fed up and out of patience.
“Even at this late stage Mr Sunak has the opportunity to show that he cares about the NHS and its workers.
“It is finally time for him to make a concrete commitment to restore doctors’ pay.
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“If during this campaign he makes such a public commitment that is acceptable to the BMA’s junior doctors committee, then no strikes need go ahead.”
Prime Minister Sunak has commented on the decision, saying: “Today’s action by the junior doctors, on the same day as the Labour Party are having a health day, does slightly ponder the question as to whether this is politically motivated.
“It’s hard to escape that conclusion, given the timing and to call a strike in an election campaign, especially as we found a constructive resolution with the remainder of the NHS workforce.
“We started with a million NHS workers under the Agenda for Change deal, including physiotherapists and many others. And most recently, we reached an agreement with the consultant doctors.
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“So it’s just the junior doctors that have failed to find a resolution with the Government, and that’s in spite of them already being offered a pay deal that is worth on average a 10 percent increase, a 10 percent increase already, and we were prepared to keep talking.”
Anish Vij