Consultants and young doctors will strike together during the Conservative Party conference, the British Medical Association (BMA) has announced.
The unprecedented strike by hospital doctors will take place on September 20 and October 2, 3 and 4, so hospitals will only offer coverage for “Christmas Day”.
The dates announced by the BMA coincide with the Conservative conference, and Nickie Aiken, vice-chairman of the Conservative Party, said on Thursday that the timing “makes it clear that their strike plans are politically motivated.”
Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chair of the BMA’s junior medical committee, said: “We will be holding a national rally in Manchester on October 3, outside the Conservative Party Conference.
“Doctors across England, from different branches of practice, will show that we are more prepared than ever to fight for doctors to be valued and paid what they deserve.”
Young doctors have demanded a 35 percent pay rise and consultants, who are among the top two percent earners, say their earnings have fallen 35 percent in real terms in 15 years.
Both have already staged repeated strikes, which experts say will hamper efforts to reduce NHS waiting lists. Health chiefs have said it is a “nightmare scenario” and that “patients are paying the price”.
Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, said patients were “taking the brunt of the BMA’s relentlessness” and called the joint strike “a callous and calculated disturbance”.
Waiting lists are at a record level of 7.6 million and continue to grow, with more than 900,000 appointments canceled due to strikes.
