Junior doctors in the United Kingdom will begin a four-day strike on Tuesday to demand better pay amid a cost-of-living crisis. The National Health Service has predicted that the action could see 350,000 appointments being postponed.
Junior doctors account for about half of doctors nationwide and will go on strike until Saturday morning to demand a 35% pay rise. Their real-term wages have fallen 26% due to successive austerity policies imposed on the NHS, according to the British Medical Association.
Yet they face opposition from the government, with the UK's Health Secretary Steve Barclay describing their demands as “unrealistic”. They also lack support from the NHS itself, whose medical director Stephen Powis has called the strikes "the most disruptive mobilisation in our history."
Powis also revealed that “urgent and critical care will be prioritised but some patients will see their appointments delayed.” The NHS Confederation's director Matthew Taylor told Sky News on Monday that "there will be risks to patients" in the coming days.
