Junior doctors on the picket line at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast
Junior doctors in Northern Ireland have begun a 24-hour strike for the first time in a dispute over pay.
Of those who voted, 97.6% were in favour of going on strike, with a a 63.7% turnout, the British Medical Association (BMA) said.
The BMA said it showed junior doctors felt they had no other choice.
Northern Ireland’s Department of Health (DoH) has said there will be “significant disruption” to patient care.
The DoH said it was committed to negotiations with the BMA junior doctors committee which “offers the best prospect of deescalating the situation”.
When are junior doctors on strike?
Junior doctors in Northern Ireland are striking for just one day – from 08:00 GMT on Wednesday until 08:00 on Thursday.
Image source, Dr Marcus Hollyer
Dr Marcus Hollyer says some doctors are considering leaving Northern Ireland for better pay
One junior doctor told BBC News NI this week’s planned strike action was “a last resort” by colleagues who were facing a “workforce crisis”.
Dr Marcus Hollyer said doctors felt they had been left with “no choice” as he and others considered leaving Northern Ireland to work in areas with higher pay.
The BMA said junior doctors salaries in NI fell by 30% over the past 15 years.
Dr Fiona Griffin, chairwoman of BMA junior doctors committee in Northern Ireland, said it should come as “no surprise” that doctors were considering leaving to work in other countries where she said “complex and skilled work we undertake is properly rewarded”.
“We are no longer going to put up with unacceptable pay and conditions; they are causing an acute workforce crisis that is not being taken seriously”, she said.
Dr Griffin said there had been a “lack of meaningful engagement” from DoH health officials and the health minister with regards to pay negotiations.
“Nothing less than an immediate, above inflation pay award and a commitment to full pay restoration to 2008 levels will only address this,” she said.
“Otherwise the vicious cycle of staffing shortages and worsening patient care will only continue,” she said.
How much do junior doctors get paid in Northern Ireland?
However, this does not take into account weekend or out-of-hours work.
Newly-qualified junior doctor Tim Neill said staff at his level were being paid “less than £13 an hour”
A pay rise offered to doctors – if accepted – would bring the base salary up to at least £29,000.
So far doctors have rejected this offer.
Dr Tim Neill, who graduated last year and is now working in Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry, said: “If this is not fixed, staff are going to continue to leave the Northern Ireland health service.”
Speaking on the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme, he said: “The currently hourly pay for an F1 doctor (which is the most junior, newly-qualified doctor of which I am one) in Northern Ireland at the moment is less than £13 an hour.
“And if, for example, I have to stay beyond work or come into work early in order to prepare, or stay beyond my contracted hours to help out with routine tasks or on the occasion that there is a patient who requires extra care, I can’t claim any overtime back.”
Speaking in February in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Health Minister Robin Swann said: “Like-for-like comparisons between junior doctor pay in NI and England are not straightforward, due to the fact that different contractual arrangements are in place in the two jurisdictions”.
Will my appointment be cancelled?
Image source, Getty/sturti
Senior medical staff will work to cover the roles normally undertaken by junior doctors.
The DoH said because of this there would be “substantial disruption to planned hospital activity” on the strike day and as services recovered.
Most planned operations and outpatient clinics across all five regional health trusts will not take place.
The focus will be on “maintaining safe services for acutely unwell patients” and that most surgical procedures carried out will be in case of emergencies.
Patients and other service users are advised to check HSC Trust websites for further information.
How badly has each health trust been affected?
The Belfast Health Trust has confirmed that:
- 790 of its outpatient appointments are cancelled.
- 64 inpatient/day case procedures are cancelled.
The South Eastern Health Trust said:
- 418 outpatient appointment are postponed.
- 65 surgeries are postponed.
- nine endoscopy investigations postponed.
The Northern Health Trust said:
- 208 outpatient appointments have been cancelled.
- 27 surgeries postponed.
The Southern Health Trust said:
- 175 outpatients have been postponed
- 10 surgeries and all elective caesareans also postponed
- 10 endoscopy investigations postponed
The Western Health Trust said patients with cancelled appointments will be contacted soon to reschedule.
All trusts with the exception of the Northern Trust said that unless patients have been told otherwise they should attend scheduled appointments.
The Northern Trust advised that its patients should assume appointments are cancelled – unless the trust has told them otherwise.
What does Northern Ireland’s Department of Health say?
Image source, PA/Oliver McVeigh
Health Minister Robin Swann has addressed the issue in the Assembly
The DoH said industrial action would “cause significant disruption to patient care.
It said it was committed “to further engagement with the BMA junior doctors committee on pay, contract reform and other issues,” and that this offered the best prospect of “deescalating the situation”.
A spokesman added that in line with independent pay body recommendations, junior doctors in NI had been offered an average pay increase of 9.1% for 2023/24 with those in their first year receiving a 10.7% uplift.
He said the award would be backdated to April 2023 and should be “viewed in the context of pay settlements across the wider NI public sector”.
However, he added that in relation to 2023-24 pay, the department could only implement the recommendations of independent pay review bodies or mirror pay settlements in England.
“This approach is being applied to all health service staffing groups. It is not possible to make exceptions,” he added.
He said there were grounds for productive negotiations with the BMA junior doctors committee.
This is includes 2024-25 junior doctor pay, potentially reforming the current junior contract in Northern Ireland, and addressing areas of concern on working conditions and other non-pay issues.
Related Topics
Related Internet Links
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
