More wages and better working conditions: Resident doctors in the British health service plan to go on strike for four days next week. Hospital managers fear serious consequences.
The UK health service is worried about patient care ahead of a four-day strike by residents. Heads of hospitals and doctors’ offices are “more worried than any other strike,” Layla McCay, director of an umbrella organization for the national health service, told the BBC. Up to a quarter of a million appointments and operations could therefore be canceled and postponed.
The strike, which is due to begin Tuesday, is also expected to impact patient safety, McCay said. “This is a major concern for all healthcare leaders.”
The British Medial Association union announced that it would not spare any areas of the health service – including those where patient safety is at risk. However, there is an emergency plan that provides that striking residents can be called to the hospital if the lives of patients are in immediate danger.
The union called UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay to meet over the Easter holiday to resolve the dispute. “All we want is a serious offer so that we can talk about this drop in real wages and start negotiations,” a union official said, according to the BBC. The Conservative government, on the other hand, is asking the union to call off the strike. Only then are negotiations possible.
Source: Stern
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