In the spring of 2016, NHS junior doctors went on strike for
the first time ever in the Service's seventy year history. They did it to
protest against new contracts which will cause a cut in their pay and increases
to their workload. There was a lot of public support for them and they even
wrote a song that went to the top of the hit parade, see:
http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/national-health-singers-yours.html.
This has become the biggest act of industrial action ever in the NHS. Strikes
in the NHS are a very serious matter. When the railways go on strike long
distance commuters might miss a day's work. When health services go on strike
people die. There's no doubt about that. This is the dilemma we face. However,
the state of healthcare in
Britain
today is such a sorry one that I think it is now immoral
not to strike. We need to do whatever it takes to change things.
Far more people will die from our inaction than from any walkouts. I made this point
over last year's JR porters' strike, see:
http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/jr-porters-strike-update-2.html.
The first junior doctors' strike could begin as soon as the 12th of September. Coverage
of the strike in the media has been predictably scathing. Here's a prime
example:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3766081/Junior-doctors-plotting-five-day-strikes-Staff-want-stage-walkout-month-end-year.html.
The word "plotting" is deeply pejorative and the article emphasizes
the loss of service the strike will cause, therefore portraying the doctors as
selfish and heartless.
