JUNIOR doctors are striking again in July 2023 in what is thought to be the longest single period of industrial action in the history of the NHS.
The British Medical Association (BMA) have confirmed five days of strikes, with services across England set to be impacted.
When are the junior doctor strikes?
The walkouts will begin at 7am on July 13, with services resuming after 7am on July 18.
The BMA's last round of junior doctor strikes were staged in mid-June.
This industrial action led to almost 33,000 hospital appointments and procedures being cancelled in London alone, and 100,000 in total.
Since December, more than 650,000 routine operations and appointments in England have had to be rescheduled due to industrial action, according to NHS Providers.
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What are junior doctors strikes about?
The strikes are being held over an ongoing pay dispute.
The BMA aims for the strikes are to achieve full pay restoration for junior doctors, "reversing the steep decline in pay" since 2008.
The association also wants "to agree on a mechanism with the government to prevent any future declines against the cost of living and inflation".
The pay received by junior doctors is dependent on experience.
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During foundation training, doctors will earn a basic salary of between £29,384 to £34,012 per year, and a doctor beginning their specialist training will earn between £40,257 to £53,398 a year.
When the news of the July strikes was announced a BMA spokesperson said: "We won’t give up until junior doctors are fairly paid."
Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairs of the junior doctors committee, added: "It has been almost a week since the last round of strikes finished but not once have we heard from Rishi Sunak or Steve Barclay in terms of reopening negotiations since their collapse of our talks and cancelling all scheduled meetings a month ago.
"What better indication of how committed they are to ending this dispute could we have?
"As their refusal to even discuss pay restoration leads to continued disruption to the health service, more than four-fifths of junior doctors report finding their patients supportive – they understand the value of a fully staffed and resourced NHS.
"We are announcing the longest single walkout by doctors in the NHS’s history – but this is not a record that needs to go into the history books.
"Even now the Government can avert our action by coming to the table with a credible offer on pay restoration."
The association previously said it would not settle for anything less than a 35 per cent pay rise, but now accepts it will be lower.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay insisted it was in his interests to resolve the dispute, but said there "needs to be movement on both sides".
Which services will be affected by the junior doctors strike?
The five-day walk out is for all junior doctors in England.
The junior doctor strikes, which could stretch on until March 2024, will impact both both routine and emergency care.
The Sun revealed how hospitals spend millions of pounds per day covering striking junior doctors' shifts.
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Consultants are being drafted in at huge rates, with 54 out of 126 major NHS hospital trusts paying a combined £32.5million to cover shifts over seven days of strikes in March and April.
A BMA spokesperson said: "This data shows it would be far more cost-effective for hospitals and the NHS in the long run – not just on strike days – for the Government to end this dispute by paying doctors what they are worth."
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