Tens of thousands of doctors - including staff at every major hospital in Greater Manchester - are walking out today in an historic strike.
One doctor, and leader, has shared a heartfelt personal message to the public and government, explaining why NHS staff are joining the picket line. Dr Naru Narayanan is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist nurse, and the president of the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association - a union joining the British Medical Association this week's 72-hour phase of industrial action.
Dr Narayanan spoke to the Manchester Evening News about why he is joining the historic strikes. Patients will suffer but the future of the NHS is at risk, he says, urging the government to meet the union pay demands, which are hoped to boost staff numbers.
The doctor qualified as a medic in India in 1991 before beginning a career in the NHS in the UK in 2000, working in London and the south west. Here, he paints a stark picture of a dwindling number of staff who will struggle to meet the needs of an ageing population which is increasingly reliant on the NHS.
'Even really young doctors are leaving - and not coming back'
“The junior doctors across most of the unions have voted overwhelmingly to strike and the key reason is the erosion of pay over a decade. Pay is an indicator for how people are valued, if people feel less valued then it will have an impact on recruitment and retention.
“There were 9,000 vacancies across all grades of doctors last year. One in six posts were vacant, that’s a 16 per cent vacancy rate over the last year - we know more people are required to look after patients.
“Even really young doctors are leaving as well. In 2018, some doctors at the F2 grade - so two years after graduating university - decided to take a break from the service, which does happen.
“But five years down the line, one in five - 17 per cent - of those who left have not come back. That’s an appalling statistic.
'Will the NHS have a future?'
“The government is not blind to us needing more medical staff, but the only way to attract people is to pay them properly. Medics spend six years doing a very intensive course, leave it with £100,000 of debt and then start on £14 an hour.
“That is not right when the level of responsibility they have is enormous. These young doctors haven’t fallen out of love with the profession, but more and more will leave because they feel more valued elsewhere - they'll go to the private sector, or go abroad to Australia or Canada.
“I worry whether we will even have an NHS in the future. Who will look after these people?
“More strike action is inevitable, doctors are angry and fed up. If the government thinks it will all fizzle out, they are wrong.
“Senior and junior doctors are in this together. Senior doctors will be looking after critical and emergency care on the strike days so that will be covered.
'Patients will be in difficulty, but the government should act'
“I am very sorry some elective care will be postponed and that will put patients in difficulty. There will be disruption in a lot of people's lives - it’s in the interest of the government to avoid this, which they could if they accepted our approach and came to the table for a discussion.
“The NHS certainly looks more difficult than when I joined, bed numbers have gone down significantly which has a huge impact, especially because there isn’t the space in social care where people could be looked after. There’s also a lack of staff to man those beds that are available.
“We’re all living longer and will be more sick, we need more beds and more staff. We need the NHS.”
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