Royal Bolton Hospital junior doctors speak about strike

Junior doctors in Bolton have given an emotional account of why they have walked out.

The four day strike ends at 7am tomorrow, after the walkout by members of The British Medical Assocation (BMA) started on Tuesday in a fight over pay and better working conditions.

The BMA says junior doctors in England have seen a 26 per cent real terms pay cut since 2008/09 due to wage rises being below inflation.

Ellie Rees, a junior doctor at Royal Bolton Hospital, said: “I think none of us want to strike, but we’re here because more needs to be done to help the junior doctors do the job that we all want to do.

“We’ve all got into medicine for all the right reasons, because we want to help people, but at times it’s really difficult to do that when we’re on the wards and in the A&E.

“We try hard every single day that we go to work and we want the best for the patients, that is why we’re here. 

BMA members, including Ellie Rees, right. (Image: Newsquest)

“It’s a long term benefit to the patients, because we really do enjoy our job, and we want to do the best that we can

“People are working really, really hard for not that much money, comparatively to other jobs.”

Fellow junior doctor, Mirac Demirbag, said: “One of the things that people don’t quite understand is the way that we work. We don’t work a normal 9-5, 40 hour work week.

“Our standard working patterns are working nights, weekends, we work 48 hours a week year on year. There is a massive toll to that, it is very, very stressful, it takes away quite a lot from our families and friends.

“I’m sure everyone here has missed out on weddings, the birth of family members, really big, important milestone events.”

He added: “The issue isn’t just about the pay, it’s about when the pay does get eroded, it’s a combination of all those factors. We’re not working any less than we used to.

Mike Greenhalgh, Deputy Chair of BMA North West (Image: Newsquest)

“I’d argue that nobody goes into this job just for the money, we all care about the patients. But it’s about feeling that we’re well renumerated for the sacrifices that we do, on top of all the exams we have to pay for and the fees that we have to cough up.”

Mike Greenhalgh, Deputy Chair of BMA North West, who joined members outside the hospital, said: “The BMA have put in place provisions to make sure that patients’ safety is maintained in the hospital. That includes cover from our colleagues who are consultants and other senior doctors who aren’t junior doctors in the hospital.

“There have also been several meetings a day between the BMA and NHS England to make sure that patients’ safety is maintained on the emergency side.

“Unfortunately, there are going to be some people who have had appointments and operations cancelled, and I’d like to apologise to anyone who has been affected by that.”

He continued: “But this is part of a much longer term problem, there are over seven million people on waiting lists.

“I’m sure the people who have unfortunately had operations and appointments postponed will have waited far too long to get those in the first place.

“Part of the reason they’re waiting so long is that the NHS has been underfunded, understaffed and under-resourced for years now.

“A fair pay deal for junior doctors will get more of us back into work, stop people leaving the profession and going to other countries, and get waiting lists down.”