Junior doctors brand government ‘irrational’ – as ministers say ‘door is open’ for talks to end strikes
The government has been branded “an irrational partner” by a junior doctors’ union, who say ministers’ refusals to negotiate while strikes are ongoing are “madness”.
The trainee medics began three days of industrial action on Wednesday after negotiations between the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Department of Health broke down earlier this month.
Reports suggested an additional pay rise of around 3% – on top of the 8.8% recommended by the independent pay review body in April – was put on the table by the government.
But the BMA said that would amount to real-term pay cuts for its members following years of below-inflation pay rises, with only a rise of 35% bringing pay back to 2008 levels.
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A final offer is not understood to have been made by Health Secretary Victoria Atkins before the BMA’s deadline, leading to the union announcing fresh strike dates.
But the government’s position is it will not resume talks when industrial action has been called.
Co-chair of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, Dr Robert Laurenson, told Sky News from a picket line in London: “For the government to have an offer, not negotiate, not provide that offer, let the strikes go on is completely reckless – it’s actually madness and it’s the behaviour of an irrational partner.
“The government have the power to sort this out by giving us something sensible to put to our members, and until they do that, we have nothing to put to our members.”
Junior doctors, who are qualified but are undertaking further training after medical school, make up nearly half of all doctors in the English NHS system.
Health charities and organisations issued a plea to them to call off the industrial action over fears patients could be left “stranded” in hospital over Christmas as they wait to be discharged.
The groups, including Age UK and the NHS Confederation, also said it would be “extremely difficult to ensure safe and effective care during this period for all patients that need it”.
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Strike ‘not the way’ to secure settlement
This latest round of strikes is impacting services across the country, with Cheltenham A&E among those closing during the action.
But the NHS has said emergency and urgent care will be prioritised during the strikes, with routine care the most affected.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said the NHS “should be there for all of us when we need it”, and she was worried about the more than one million appointments that have been cancelled during this year’s strike action.
She added: “As I’ve said throughout all my negotiations and discussions with the medical profession, I want us to reach fair and reasonable settlements, and I’ve managed to do that with consultants and with specialised doctors.
“I want to do the same with junior doctors.
“But them calling a strike and walking out of negotiations is not the way to secure that.”
However, Dr Laurenson warned the NHS would continue to face winter crises until it could retain doctors, many of whom are leaving for better-paid jobs abroad, and the blame lies squarely with the government, according to the BMA.
“We’ve been in dispute now for 14 months and we deliberately avoided last winter and started our action in March, and that’s because we thought we’d be able to get round the table with the government and explain the issues thoroughly,” he said.
“But it took them six months to come to the table in May, and after May it took them another six months, so all of the delays have been caused by the government and they’ve pushed us to the dead of the winter.”
He added: “The government is close, the Secretary of State has been more understanding, they just need to make that one last step to get the deal across the table, across the line, but they need to make that step. If they don’t then we’ll have to keep going into 2024 and beyond.”
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Further strikes are planned for January, with junior doctors due to walk out for six consecutive days – the longest action ever taken by NHS staff.
Junior doctors in Wales are planning a 72-hour strike from 15 January, while junior doctors in Northern Ireland are being balloted for potential strike action.
Staff in Scotland have already come to an agreement with the Scottish government.
NHS league tables revealing failing NHS trusts and cancelled pay rises or dismissal for managers who don’t turn things around are to form part of the government’s plans to improve the health service.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting is confirming new measures he hopes will boost failing hospital trusts and encourage successful ones.
The changes form part of the Labour government’s strategy to reduce waiting lists “from 18 months to 18 weeks”.
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Health and the state of the NHS were consistently among the most important issues for voters at this year’s general election – with Labour blaming the Conservatives for “breaking” it.
As health is a devolved area, any reforms proposed in Westminster would only apply to England.
Chief among Mr Streeting’s proposals is a “league table” for NHS trusts.
An announcement from the Department for Health and Social Care said: “NHS England will carry out a no-holds-barred sweeping review of NHS performance across the entire country, with providers to be placed into a league table.
“This will be made public and regularly updated to ensure leaders, policy-makers and patients know which improvements need to be prioritised.”
It also promises to replace “persistently failing managers” – with “turn around teams” being sent in to improve trusts running sizeable deficits or offering poor service to patients.
The government says “senior managers” who fail to make progress will not be eligible for pay rises.
There will be “financial implications” for more senior figures such as chief executives if their trust does not improve.
On the flip-side, those trusts that are deemed to be “high-performing” will get “greater freedom over funding and flexibility”.
Senior leaders at these trusts will also be “rewarded”.
The government says the current system is not incentivising trusts to run a budget surplus, as they cannot benefit from it.
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NHS reform: ‘Be careful what you wish for’
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Mr Streeting said: “The budget showed this government prioritises the NHS, providing the investment needed to rebuild the health service.
“Today we are announcing the reforms to make sure every penny of extra investment is well spent and cuts waiting times for patients.
“There’ll be no more turning a blind eye to failure. We will drive the health service to improve, so patients get more out of it for what taxpayers put in.
“Our health service must attract top talent, be far more transparent to the public who pay for it, and run as efficiently as global businesses.
“With the combination of investment and reform, we will turn the NHS around and cut waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Concerns from health representatives
Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, said: “While NHS leaders welcome accountability, it is critical that responsibility comes with the necessary support and development.
“The extensive package of reforms, developed together with government, will empower all leaders working in the NHS and it will give them the tools they need to provide the best possible services for our patients.”
Further plans on how monitoring will be published by the start of the next financial year in April 2025, the government said.
Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation – a body that represents all NHS trusts – said healthcare leaders welcome the “government’s ambition”.
However, he said he was concerned league tables and reducing pay may “strip out” the nuance of what’s going on.
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Mr Taylor said: “NHS staff are doing their very best for patients under very challenging circumstances and we do not want them feeling like they are being named and shamed.
“League tables in themselves do not lead to improvement, trusts struggling with consistent performance issues – some of which reflect contextual issues such as underlying population heath and staff shortages – need to be identified and supported in order to recover.”
UK
Princess of Wales’s annual carol concert to focus on ‘how much we need others in difficult times’
The Princess of Wales will host her Christmas carol concert this year, reflecting on “how much we need each other, especially in the most difficult times of our lives”.
The service, which has become an annual festive event for Kate, will take place on the 6 December at Westminster Abbey, as part of her return to public duties after finishing her chemotherapy treatment earlier this year.
In September, the princess said her focus is “doing what I can to stay cancer-free”.
Last week, Prince William described how the past year had been “brutal” and probably “the hardest year in my life”, with his father, the King, also receiving cancer treatment.
Both the King and Kate joined other members of the Royal Family for the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London on Sunday.
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Princess of Wales at Remembrance Sunday
Announcing the date of the Together At Christmas carol service, Kensington Palace said: “This year’s service provides a moment to reflect upon the importance of love and empathy, and how much we need each other, especially in the most difficult times of our lives.
“The service will shine a light on individuals from all over the UK who have shown love, kindness and empathy towards others in their communities.”
The Princess of Wales’s family at the service in 2021. Pic: PA
It will be the fourth time Kate has staged the carol service, which is supported by her and her husband’s Royal Foundation.
Around 1,600 people will be invited to sing carols and see musical performances by stars including Paloma Faith, Olivia Dean and Gregory Porter.
Those who have supported others, either on a personal level with friends and family or through their work or volunteering, have been nominated to attend.
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Kate ‘doing really well’
The palace added that this year Kate “wanted to celebrate the many people supporting those in need – individuals who have inspired, counselled, comforted, and above all else shown that love is the greatest gift we can receive”.
The theme takes inspiration from the Christmas story, “which encourages us to consider the experiences of others and the important human need of giving and receiving empathy”.
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Across the UK, 15 Together At Christmas community carol services will also be held, including at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro and Blackpool Tower Circus.
The event will be filmed as part of a special programme which will air on ITV and ITVX on Christmas Eve.
Fines of £10,000 for social media bosses who don’t remove illegal knife adverts are being considered by the government.
The proposals are part of attempts by Labour to fulfil their promise to halve knife crime levels in the next decade.
The Home Office wants to introduce the measures to stop the “unacceptable use of social media and online marketplaces to market illegal weapons and glorify violence” and ensure content is quickly removed.
Under the plans, police would be empowered to issue warnings to senior officials at online companies and demand specific adverts and content be removed – potentially within two days.
A second notice could then be given if action is not taken – with senior executives “personally liable” for a “significant fine” if nothing is done.
While the exact scale of the financial penalty has not been confirmed, a consultation suggested £10,000 for the worst offenders, according to the PA news agency.
Sir Keir Starmer previously spoke of his desire to make buying knives online harder.
In September, he hosted a meeting of a new anti-knife crime coalition including actor Idris Elba and bereaved families, among others.
Elba told the meeting: “Talk is good, but action is important.”
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Idris Elba: ‘Talk is good, action is more important’
As well as reducing the sale of knives online, the government also wants to change the law around ninja swords.
Work is currently ongoing to decide a definition of the weapons.
It comes on the back of campaigning by Pooja Kanda, the mother of 16-year-old Ronan Kanda.
Ronan was killed in Wolverhampton by two 17-year-olds in 2022, who used a weapon purchased online under an alias and collected from a Post Office.
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said perpetrators “must face the full force of the law” as she announced the “tough new sanctions”, adding: “The epidemic of knife crime that has grown over the last decade is devastating families and communities right across the country.
“That’s why this government has set out an unprecedented mission to halve knife crime over the next decade and today we’re taking determined action to get lethal blades off Britain’s streets.”
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Home Sec vows to halve knife crime
Commander Stephen Clayman, who leads the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s work on knife crime and is also heading a review of online sales of the weapons for the Home Office, said: “For far too long, deadly weapons have been far too easily accessible online, with content promoting their use for protection and combat rife on many platforms and seemingly little being done to remove it.
“We welcome the chance to take part in the consultation and explore the most effective means of achieving this, including using the findings of the ongoing online sales review.”
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