Thousands of UK doctors launched a five-day strike early Friday after talks with the Labour government for a new pay increase failed to reach a deal.
Doctors were out on picket lines outside hospitals after negotiations with the government went down the wire late Thursday, without reaching an accord.
The move comes after the聽doctors accepted a pay rise offer totalling 22.3 per cent over two years in September, soon after prime minister Keir Starmer鈥檚 Labour party took power.
Resident doctors 鈥� those below consultant level 鈥� have said they felt they had 鈥榥o choice鈥� but to strike again to reverse 鈥榩ay erosion鈥� since 2008.
Starmer on Friday appealed to the doctors, saying patients were being put at risk and the strikes would 鈥榗ause real damage鈥�.
Launching a strike 鈥榳ill mean everyone loses,鈥� Starmer wrote in the Times, highlighting the added strain it would put on the already struggling National Health Service.
He appealed to the doctors not to 鈥榝ollow鈥� their union, the British Medical Association 鈥榙own this damaging road. Our NHS and your patients need you鈥� .
鈥楲ives will be blighted by this decision,鈥� Starmer warned.
But the junior doctors have said their pay in real terms has eroded more than 21 per cent over the past two decades.
鈥榃e鈥檙e not working 21 per cent less hard so why should our pay suffer?鈥� said the co-chairs of the BMA鈥檚 resident doctors committee Melissa Ryan and Ross Nieuwoudt in a statement.
Last year鈥檚 doctors鈥� strikes, which saw tens of thousands of appointments cancelled and treatment delayed, were among a series of public and private sector walk-outs over pay and conditions as inflation soared.
Health minister Wes Streeting also appealed to doctors to reverse their position, saying in a letter published in The Telegraph that the government 鈥榗annot afford to go further on pay this year鈥�.
The previous Conservative government last year resisted the BMA鈥檚 demands for a 35-percent 鈥榩ay restoration鈥� to reflect real-term inflation over the last decade.
Last year Labour moved to draw a line under a series of disputes reaching pay offers to public sector workers including teachers and train drivers.
Those included a 15 per cent pay deal over three years for train drivers which was heavily criticised by the Conservative opposition.
