Just nowShareSaveNick TriggleHealth correspondentShareSaveDoctors going on strike again over pay is “inflicting pain and misery” on patients, says Health Secretary Wes Streeing. “We could do without this reckless action,” he said, adding it could harm patients.The five-day walkout in England by resident doctors, the new name for junior doctors, runs until 07:00 Wednesday.The doctors’ union – the British Medical Association (BMA) – says they are still not paid enough and there are too few training places or jobs.The NHS says nearly all services will keep running, and patients should attend appointments unless advised otherwise. Hospitals will come under the most strain – resident doctors make up about half their medical workforce.NHS England says it wanted to keep 95% of non-urgent work, such as hip and knee operations, going.The NHS aims to do this by re-deploying and offering overtime to consultants and and other senior doctors as well as relying on those not striking – around a third of resident doctors are not BMA members.But this will come at significant cost with the NHS estimating the five-day walkout is costing £240m to cover.Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Nick Hulme, the chief executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said although there would be disruptions for some patients, the impact of the strike would be “at a minimum” because of staff being moved around.He also said more resident doctors were choosing to work during this strike: “They are voting with their feet and returning to work.” Dr Tom Dolphin, BMA council chairman, said the union had “reached an impasse” with the government over pay and jobs.”We’ve got pay that is still a fifth down on the value that it had in 2008,” he said, adding there are “thousands of doctors who are unable to get into training posts, are unable to become the specialists and the GPs of the future that we need”.Mr Hulme said his trust was “working very hard” to make sure resident doctors were being provided with “good advance notice of rotas” and were not being expected to travel great distances to work. But he said their pay was a matter for the government and the BMA.Meanwhile, resident doctors in Scotland are balloting for strike action over pay. ‘I’m furious’OtherDespite the attempt to keep services going, patients like Colette Houlihan, 68, have still had to face postponements.She was due to have a pre-surgery appointment on Monday, but this has now been pushed back to late December.Ms Houlihan, from Cambridgeshire, who is waiting for a benign tumour in her neck to be removed, said she had had to put up with two cancellations already, but could understand those as she was told patients who were higher priorities needed to be seen.”They could have had cancer. I didn’t mind that, but this is different.”I am furious. By striking they ignore the Hippocratic Oath – first and foremost do no harm.”Striking causes harm by way of delaying procedures, taking senior doctors from their posts and causing chaos within the system,” she said.ChallengingNHS England medical director Prof Meghana Pandit said it was frustrating and disappointing that there was another round – the 13th – of industrial action at a challenging time for the NHS, with flu cases rising earlier than usual.”Despite this, staff across the NHS are working extremely hard to maintain care and limit disruption,” she added.But BMA leader Dr Tom Dolphin said keeping most services running would be “challenging”.He said doctors had a legal right to strike and should not be “bullied or coerced” into working.And he warned h …
