Junior doctors strike: Patient care ‘on a knife edge’ as up to 350,000 appointments could be cancelled during four-day walkout

Published

2 years ago

April 11, 2023

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Junior doctors will begin a four-day strike today as an NHS leader warns up to 350,000 appointments, including operations, could be cancelled.

The walkout by up to 47,600 junior doctors is part of a worsening pay dispute which threatens huge disruption to the NHS.

The strikes centre around a pay row between the British Medical Association (BMA) and the government.

The BMA, the doctors’ union, says junior doctors in England have seen a 26% real-terms pay cut since 2008/09 because pay rises have been below inflation.

The union has asked for a full pay restoration that the government said would amount to a 35% pay rise – which ministers have said is unaffordable.

Junior doctors will mount picket lines outside hospitals from 7am until Saturday morning in the longest walkout since nurses, ambulance crews and other health workers started taking action in 2022.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, has told Sky News he expects “up to 350,000 appointments” to be cancelled as a result of the four-day action.

Meanwhile, NHS managers have warned that patient care is “on a knife edge” over the next four days because of the strike.

The BMA has released an advert which shows how much doctors with 10, seven and one-years experience would earn for completing an operation where an appendix is removed.

The advert says they would earn £28, £24.46, and £14.09 respectively – a total of £66.55 for a potentially life-saving procedure.

‘My dad is telling me to quit’

Dr Jennifer Barclay, a surgical doctor in the North West, said: “I’ll be working a busy on-call shift; treating unwell patients, assessing new patients, consenting and preparing patients for surgery and answering never ending bleeps, when we have to run to theatre.

“I haven’t had time to eat or nip to the loo and I know I’ll be in theatre for around an hour. An appendicectomy like the one in this advert would be a typical case.

“I want the doctors treating my loved ones to be well rested and able to provide the best care possible.

“I don’t want them to be burnt out, worried about paying the bills or up to £100,000 of debt or thinking about alternative careers whilst making life and death decisions.

“My dad, an electrician, tells me to quit and retrain in his footsteps; I’d be earning more, have less stress, less responsibility, better hours and a better work-life balance after three years.”

Read more:
Why this could be the worst NHS strike yet

Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs, said: “It is appalling that this government feels that paying three junior doctors as little as £66.55 between them for work of this value, is justified.

“This is highly skilled work requiring years of study and intensive training in a high-pressure environment where the job can be a matter of life and death.”

Pay rise demand is ‘unreasonable’

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

“Not only will the walkouts risk patient safety, but they have also been timed to maximise disruption after the Easter break.

“I hoped to begin formal pay negotiations with the BMA last month but its demand for a 35% pay rise is unreasonable – it would result in some junior doctors receiving a pay rise of over £20,000.

“If the BMA is willing to move significantly from this position and cancel strikes we can resume confidential talks and find a way forward, as we have done with other unions.”

Mr Barclay also said people should attend appointments unless told otherwise by the NHS. He added they should also call 999 in a life-threatening emergency and use NHS 111 online services for non-urgent health needs.

Meanwhile, Mr Taylor told Sky News: “These strikes are going to have a catastrophic impact on the capacity of the NHS to recover.

“The health service has to meet high levels of demand at the same time as making inroads into that huge backlog… That’s a tough thing to do at the best of times – it’s impossible to do when strikes are continuing.”

Asked whether everyone who needs urgent care this week will get it, he said: “We hope so.

“There’s no point hiding the fact that there will be risks to patients, risks to patient safety, risks to patient dignity, as we’re not able to provide the kind of care that we want to.”

Patients ‘crying out for leadership’

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said : “The junior doctors’ strike this week will cause huge disruption to patient care.

“Where is the Prime Minister and why hasn’t he tried to stop it?

“Rishi Sunak says he ‘wouldn’t want to get in the middle of’ NHS pay disputes.

“Patients are crying out for leadership, but instead they are getting weakness.”

UK

Harshita Brella: International manhunt under way for husband after woman’s body found in car boot

Published

4 hours ago

November 17, 2024

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Harshita Brella: International manhunt under way for husband after woman's body found in car boot

An international manhunt is under way for the husband of a murdered woman, whose body was found in the boot of a car.

The body of Harshita Brella was found in east London on Thursday, tens of miles away from her home in Corby.

On Sunday, Northamptonshire Police said they were looking for Pankaj Lamba – who they believe has left the country.

Sky News understands she had been under the protection of a court order designed for victims of domestic abuse.

“Our inquiries lead us to suspect that Harshita was murdered in Northamptonshire earlier this month by her husband Pankaj Lamba,” said chief inspector Paul Cash.

“We suspect Lamba transported Harshita’s body from Northamptonshire to Ilford by car.”

“Fast track” enquires were made after the force was contacted on Wednesday by someone concerned about Ms Brella’s welfare. After she failed to answer the door at her home in Skegness Walk, Corby, a missing person investigation was launched.

Her body was found inside the boot of a vehicle on Brisbane Road, Ilford, in the early hours of Thursday morning.

A post mortem – conducted at Leicester Royal Infirmary on Friday – established she had been murdered.

More than 60 detectives are working on the case, with lines of enquiry including going house to house and property searches, as well as looking at CCTV and ANPR.

“We are of course continuing to appeal for any information that will help us piece together exactly what happened as we work to get justice for Harshita,” said chief inspector Cash.

“I urge anyone listening to or reading this statement, that if you saw anything suspicious in the past week or have any information, no matter how small, please contact us. We would always rather receive well-meaning information that turns out to be nothing as opposed to not receiving it all.”

Force referred to police watchdog

On Saturday, Northamptonshire Police said it had made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct due to previous contact between the force and the victim.

Northamptonshire Police previously said officers had been conducting investigations at three locations: Skegness Walk and Sturton Walk in Corby and Brisbane Road, Ilford, where Ms Brella’s body was found.

East Midlands Special Operations Major Crime Unit (EMSOU) and Northamptonshire Police said they were working “around the clock to establish the circumstances behind her death, including the exact location and timeframe in which it took place”.

UK

King Richard III given Yorkshire accent using state-of-the-art technology

Published

4 hours ago

November 17, 2024

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King Richard III given Yorkshire accent using state-of-the-art technology

State-of-the-art technology has been used to create a voice for King Richard III – giving him a Yorkshire accent.

A digital avatar of the medieval king’s head went on display in front of excited history fans at York Theatre Royal.

Richard III was king of England from 1483 until his death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, at the age of 32.

His remains were found in a car park in Leicester in 2012 by historian Philippa Langley.

Speaking about the recreation, she said: “We’ve got leading experts in their fields who have been working on this for 10 years and so everything has been meticulously researched, meticulously evidenced, so you are seeing the most accurate portrayal of Richard III”.

A team based at Face Lab at Liverpool John Moores University created the avatar based on the reconstruction of Richard III’s head with the help of a craniofacial expert.

Experts from various fields helped put the pieces of the puzzle together, including speech and language therapy, dentistry, forensic psychology and archaeology.

His voice has been created by Professor David Crystal, a leading linguist in 15th-century pronunciation. He admitted that it’s impossible to know exactly how he spoke, but this is as close as they will get.

The king was born in Northampton but spent a lot of his life in Yorkshire. His parents were also from the north of England.

Vocal coach Yvonne Morley-Chisholm spent a decade researching how the monarch would have sounded. She worked with the actor Thomas Dennis who was chosen as his body and face were such a good physical match.

Speaking to Sky News, she said people will be shocked at how different he sounded compared with traditional portrayals of the king on stage and screen.

The coach and actor also examined the king’s letters and diary so that “as you pronounced a word that’s how you would write it”.

The voice shows the change in pronunciation over the centuries – from regional variations to the Queen’s English.

History fans at the unveiling were delighted with the accent, with one telling Sky News: “Northerners are known to be happy, positive, all those lovely qualities.”

Born in Northampton but a northerner through and through, technology has brought the king’s speech back to life

UK

South Yorkshire Police warning after 13 dangerous dog reports in 48 hours

Published

4 hours ago

November 17, 2024

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South Yorkshire Police warning after 13 dangerous dog reports in 48 hours

South Yorkshire Police have warned pet owners to “step up before someone dies” after receiving 13 reports of dangerous dogs in less than 48 hours.

One man was attacked by his own American bulldog in Sheffield on Thursday afternoon, the force said, when he attempted to separate it and a pocket bully inside a property.

The owner suffered lacerations to his face, neck and head, and was taken to hospital, while his dog was seized and remains in police kennels.

Warning: Distressing images below

Another incident saw a woman walking home with her baby in a carrier on her chest, when she was approached by a loose XL bully who began to show aggression and jump up to her baby.

An elderly woman and her grandchild were attacked by another loose dog in Sheffield.

“As dogs causing harm and fear in our communities continues to place significant demand on our force, we’re urging owners to step up, before someone dies,” South Yorkshire Police said in a statement.

The warning comes after 10-year-old Savannah Bentham was killed at her family’s home in North Yorkshire by their dog on 1 November.

Chief Inspector Emma Cheney, leading the work on dangerous dogs across South Yorkshire, said: “Recently we have sadly seen another fatal incident in the UK of a dog causing death.

“People think it won’t happen to them, that their dog won’t cause harm, but it can happen to anyone. Any dog can cause fear and harm and owners who do not step up and prevent harm to our communities will not be tolerated.

“You are responsible for your dog’s actions, and we continue to put people before the courts.

“We only have a limited number of resources, attending dangerous dog incidents takes officers away from other calls. If every owner steps up and makes small changes, we can make a difference.”