Resident doctors go on strike in Derry and across the north
Resident doctors in Derry and across the north began a 24-hour walk out on Monday morning over ‘continuing pay erosion’.
The 24 strike commenced at 7am on Monday and has seen resident doctors withdraw their labour from hospitals and GP surgeries.
This new round of strike action was called after resident doctors, alongside consultants and specialist, associate specialist and specialty doctors, voted in favour of taking strike action over pay.
Dr Steven Montgomery, chair of BMA’s Northern Ireland resident doctors committee (NIRDC), said they had been left with no choice.
"Pay erosion for resident doctors still sits at up to 20% since 2008 and we lag behind our colleagues in the rest of the UK and in the south of Ireland on pay. Add to that growing patient numbers without the necessary number of doctors needed to meet this demand and pressure, alongside younger doctors looking to leave the health service to work elsewhere for better pay and working conditions. It is unfortunately a perfect storm for our health service.”
Speaking ahead of the action by resident doctors, which comes just days after Consultants and other specialists took industrial action, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: “The uplift recommended by the Review Body for 26/27 is 3.5%, which is higher than that for other healthcare professionals working in Health and Social Care. “I recently met with the chairs of the three relevant BMA Committees and made clear my position. They made clear that even the increase of 3.5% is nowhere near enough to satisfy their demands. To go beyond the 3.5% as recommended by the independent pay review recommendation would have significant repercussions for nurses, teachers, police officers and indeed the entire public sector workforce. So, calling on me to act fails to recognise this is an Executive decision, a point I put to the BMA representatives.”
Dr Montgomery however reiterated appeals to the Health Minister to engage in meaningful negotiations.
“It is unacceptable that doctors – frontline health care staff – have been once again forced into the position of taking strike action to be heard, while government sits on its hands counts on our goodwill and delayed pay uplifts to keep the health service going. This cannot continue,” he said.
