NHS strikes: what happens when politics clashes with patient care?
Ministers can’t afford to back down over pay for doctors, as Sean O’Grady explains
Qualified doctors of all grades represented by the British Medical Association (BMA) are on strike again. This time it’s a ‘double strike’: consultants and their junior doctor colleagues are staging their first joint strike in the history of the NHS. Consultants are already out and will now be joined by junior doctors, until Thursday. Such is the disruption, only an emergency ‘Christmas Day’ level of service will be provided.
In response, the government is considering invoking minimum service level rules that would require some doctors and nurses to work during strikes in order to protect patient safety. Legislation giving ministers this power, which also covers other public services such as the railways, came into force in July and this would be its first application.
What do the doctors want?
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies