Bristol junior doctors start three days of strike action

Junior doctors in Bristol have started three days of strike action as part of a national dispute over pay.

Dozens of British Medical Association (BMA) members formed a picket line outside the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) on Wednesday morning, holding placards while passing motorists beeped their horns in support.

Juniors doctors are currently being offered a five per cent pay rise, but the BMA says this is “paltry” and are calling for “pay restoration” to reverse an estimated 26 per cent real-terms cut in pay since 2008/09.

The BMA hopes this third round of industrial action will force the government to put forward a credible offer.

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Read more: Junior doctors strike to demand fair pay

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Speaking from the picket line, James Dalton – a junior doctor of ten years – warns the current situation is a “completely unsustainable way to run our health service”.

The 34-year old-from south Bristol said: “As junior doctors, we’ve had 15 years of progressive pay cuts with respect to inflation. The last couple of years of out-of-control inflation has exacerbated that.

“As a result, we’ve had doctors leave the profession, leave the country and it’s become harder and harder to do our job.”

He added that ahead of the first strike in March, two in ten doctors responded to a survey saying they were thinking of leaving their jobs, but this is now four in ten.

“Where are we going to be next year? Where are we going to be in five years? Who’s going to be looking after us as a population? We’re all patients at the end of the day. We all need the NHS.”

Staff at Bristol Royal Infirmary have started a 72-hour walkout over pay – photo: Charlie Watts

Following April’s strikes, the BMA had three weeks of negotiations with the government, but announced the current round of action due to the five per cent pay rise offer being “nowhere near addressing pay erosion over the last 15 years.”

Also speaking from the picket line, Emma Coombe, a paediatric junior doctor of 11 years, says she wants “the government to come to the table and put a reasonable offer to us”.

The 34-year-old from Nailsea told Bristol24/7: “We know that everybody is struggling with the cost of living, but for doctors and other NHS staff, our living standards are falling faster than the general public and we don’t think it’s fair, and we’re not prepared to keep working for more real-term pay cuts.

“I’m really sorry for any patient that’s had their care disrupted this week, but we know that care is disrupted day in, day out because we haven’t got enough doctors and nurses to staff the hospitals in the way we need to.

“None of the doctors that are here on the picket line today want to be here, we would much rather be in that hospital, looking after our patients. We are here out of desperation.”

Junior doctors are striking again outside the BRI in Bristol today ? pic.twitter.com/d0H8cJeFEb

— Charlie Watts (@char1iewatts) June 14, 2023

In response to the 72-hour walkout, which will run until 7am on Saturday, the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the BRI, said in a statement that “patient safety is our top priority”.

“We have tried and tested plans in place and are committed to keeping disruption caused by the industrial action to a minimum,” the statement added.

The statement said patients should attend their appointment as normal unless they hear from the trust, and that urgent emergency services are continuing to run throughout the action.

Main image: Charlie Watts

Read next:

• Junior doctors go on strike to demand fair pay
• Bristol University staff strike to demand better pay
• Weston General Hospital accused of ‘abusing’ strike deal to get junior doctors back to work

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