A union leader has praised the “WhatsApp generation” of junior doctors on their “instantaneous” ability to mobilise as strike action continues.
Professor Philip Banfield, chairman of council of the British Medical Association (BMA), said the medics were excellent communicators thanks to their use of the encrypted messaging app, which has allowed them to gauge pay levels and conditions from other junior doctors during discussions about salary increases.
Junior doctors from the BMA union began their strike at 7am on Thursday while the NHS continues to deal with the aftermath of a cyberattack and concerns about the recent hot weather. It will continue until Tuesday — two days before the general election. NHS England warned of significant disruption to routine hospital services.
The strikes are expected to lead to tens of thousands of appointments, procedures and operations being postponed. The medics said that in real terms their pay had been cut by more than a quarter over the past 15 years and are calling for a 35 per cent increase.
Speaking before the strike action, Banfield said: “It’s got to a point where doctors felt completely disempowered and what has happened is that the juniors have got together and at the power of social media and WhatsApp they started talking to each other and saying ‘you know what, enough is enough’.
Advertisement
• Junior doctors threaten winter strikes if Labour rejects 35% pay rise
“The junior doctors are really good at communicating with each other via WhatsApp and that has been the key to the success of their strike action because the junior doctors committee can talk almost instantaneously with their membership — they can talk to 50,000 people really quickly and get instant reports back. I’d love to have an organisation that actually can do that.”
The union chief added: “I think this government has been disrespectful of the junior doctors. The junior doctors have been passionate in the pushback that’s arisen because they find themselves working in conditions that are unbelievably different to when we were trained.”
NHS leaders have criticised the timing of the walkout, referring to the action as a “bitter pill to swallow for staff who have to plug the gaps”, and for patients who will have their appointments cancelled or delayed.
Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “While we fully understand the genuine grievances junior doctors have over their pay, conditions and training, NHS leaders will still be frustrated that they will yet again be taking to the picket lines.
Advertisement
“Holding strikes in the middle of an election campaign when no political party is in a position to bring the dispute to a close is a bitter pill to swallow for staff who have to plug the gaps and patients who will have their appointments cancelled or delayed.”
Labour has pledged to open discussions with junior doctors on July 5 if it wins the election.
Sir Keir Starmer re-emphasised the pledge during a campaign visit to Staffordshire yesterday, where he said it was “a problem the government has failed to deal with”, adding: “If we’re elected into government we will have to pick it up. What we will do is ensure on day one we start the discussion.”
Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, highlighted that the government had accepted the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies in full last year, adding that junior doctors received a pay rise of between 8.1 per cent and 10.3 per cent. “This was the most generous workforce settlement in the private sector,” she said.
“We commit to getting back into the negotiating room immediately after the election and seek to reach a similar resolution with junior doctors.”
Advertisement
The NHS is coping with the impact of cyberattacks on some hospitals, and the fallout from the hot weather earlier this week, which prompted a yellow “heat-health alert” across much of the country.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital in London are continuing to run at reduced capacity following the data breach on June 3, which led to 1,134 elective procedures and 2,194 outpatient appointments being postponed when cybercriminals hacked a laboratory and blocked the digital ordering of tests and the delivery of results.
The tests are often a prerequisite for hospital admissions and operations. Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairman of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, said the “cyber attack has nothing to do with the dispute” on the picket lines.
The BMA announced that some junior doctors would be given permission to work at the hospitals during the walkouts to “prevent dangerous delays to cancer care”, but said that “all other junior doctors, including at these trusts, still can and should strike”.
