Angry staff at the Royal Hallamshire hospital claim striking junior doctors are “playing with people’s lives”
This week junior doctors have walked out for the tenth time, creating a huge impact on services, patients and staff, meaning that the Minor Injuries Unit has been forced to close throughout this period.
Junior doctors across the UK are striking due to a pay dispute with the government, as salaries are becoming worse alongside inflation and the cost of living crisis.
These workers feel as though they are in a high-pressure job which is not being rewarded appropriately and many have openly admitted to struggling in their profession.
One clerical officer, Jonathan Dahl said: “I feel sorry for people on these lists, [appointments] are getting cancelled and cancelled again. You’re playing with lives!
“They’re getting greedy with what they’re actually wanting. It’s never going to end
“We don’t always know when a strike’s going to be and we’re the dog’s body who get all the flack when something gets cancelled. It adds to your mental health and everything has a knock on effect, it just needs to stop”.
Despite the strikes being caused by a pay dispute, this shows that not all NHS staff members agree with these constant walkouts, with one in every ten days being affected by strikes for over a year.
By the end of this strike action, doctors will have taken the equivalent of 44 days or 1,056 hours of industrial action, meaning that more pressure is being placed on their colleagues having to pick up the extra workload.
Catherine Watson, Clerical Officer said: “I understand on both sides but it’s hard. When it comes to it, we’re having to cancel those clinics and we have to phone those patients
“I can understand because I’m a patient there as well and I get treated so it’s hard”.
This industrial action has been reported to affect both patients and staff’s mental wellbeing, with a survey taken by ‘The King’s Fund’ showing 66% of people who had their care cancelled reporting that it had significantly impacted their lives.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director said: “The NHS is under huge strain trying to mitigate the impact of these latest strikes during one of the most difficult times of the year”.
“The previous round of industrial action saw 113,000 appointments disrupted and at least 23,000 staff absent on weekdays. In total, strikes have now impacted over 1.3 million hospital appointments across the NHS”.
Data has shown that an average of 13,624 beds per day last week were being occupied by healthy patients, who were being delayed from being discharged.
These figures show how patients have been heavily affected by the Junior Doctor’s strikes, leaving many with cancelled appointments and delayed treatments, meaning that other NHS staff members are being forced to pick up the pieces.
