UK doctors walk out in pay dispute

NHS strike to have 'biggest impact yet', canceling thousands of operations

Thousands of senior doctors in England began a 48-hour walkout on Thursday to demand better pay and conditions, paralyzing hospitals and leaving only emergency care covered.

The severe disruptions are the latest in a wave of industrial action by public sector workers amid the United Kingdom's ongoing cost of living crisis. This comes just two days after junior doctors went on strike for five days, the longest walkout in the history of the state-funded National Health Service, or NHS.

Thousands of operations and appointments have been canceled, and health officials say the impact of the latest round of strikes to hit the country's public health system is likely to be the biggest yet because almost no work can be done at hospitals unless it is supervised by a senior doctor.

Senior doctors, known as consultants in the UK, will only be "on call" for urgent work such as critical cancer care until Saturday morning.

Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, told ITV News that the latest round of action was likely to have the biggest impact yet seen.

"The NHS cannot fully function without consultants," he explained.

Vishal Sharma, chair of the consultants' committee at the British Medical Association, or BMA, said years of pay rises below the rate of inflation had driven his members to action, as they were "angry", with morale at "rock bottom".

"We are undervalued and overworked," he said. "This government is failing us and failing patients."

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4's Today, Nick Hulme, chief executive of the Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, said the absence of one member of a surgical team because of the strike could put the rest of them out of action as well.

He also acknowledged that consultants' higher existing salaries might cost them some public support, but said many staff members felt they have been "left behind" in their earnings.

The Conservative government has offered a 6-percent pay increase to the doctors, but doctors' union BMA called this "derisory". It said doctors have seen real-term take-home pay fall by more than a third over the last 14 years, and accused authorities of refusing to engage in negotiations on pay.

The BMA said senior doctors on a 2003 contract earned a starting salary of about 88,300 pounds, rising to around 119,100 pounds ($153,079) after about 20 years. Doctors argue that their wages have fallen behind that of other highly-trained professionals such as lawyers.

Speaking to Sky News from a picket line, consultant ophthalmologist Ahmed Aftab said consultants were paid much less compared to other comparable jobs.

"I accept doctors' salaries are better than the average salary in society. But you have to realize that doctors are very specialist individuals who had done tens of years of specialist training," he said.

"It is a very stressful job and as compared to other segments of the society who do comparable jobs, doctors and consultants are paid much less."

Nurses, junior doctors and emergency healthcare workers have all joined public sector strikes in recent months to demand better pay to cope with soaring food, energy and housing costs. Inflation in the UK stood at 7.9 percent in June, down from double digits earlier in the year, but it is still far higher compared to other G7 economies.

Agencies contributed to this story.