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The NHS is ‘collapsed’, with dying patients sleeping in corridors and chairs, and ‘hospitals crumbling and collapsing’, warned the president of the British Medical Association.
BMA board chairman Dr. Phil Banfield said doctors were forced to apologize to patients for failing to provide adequate care.
Drawing a grim picture for the NHS, which celebrates its 75th anniversary on Wednesday, Dr Banfield told the BMA’s annual delegates’ meeting in Liverpool that nearly every indicator measuring health service performance was ‘red. It’s blinking,” he said.
He said: “Waiting lists are higher than ever. Cancer targets are missed. Emergency departments are overwhelmed. Sleeping in hallways and chairs is terrifyingly common. are brutally sent across the country.The government said the practice would stop now, but once again failed to deliver on its promises.”
He added that this week’s 75th celebration “might be a vigil” instead. “If you look at health services today, hospitals are crumbling and ambulances are piled up outside emergency departments. The NHS is collapsing all around us.”
Dr Banfield’s first speech as chairman came at a time when the BMA was embroiled in a bitter dispute with the government over NHS salaries. Tens of thousands of junior doctors are due to go on strike for five days this month, with consultants planning a two-day strike if the two sides do not reach an agreement.
War of words between the two continued over the weekend when Health Secretary Steve Berkley accused the junior doctors of “abruptly” walking away from the negotiations. But Barkley made it clear that while he was open to offering doctors the 5% or more wage hikes currently being considered, it wasn’t going to be so while junior doctors planned to go on strike.
The BMA said the government was “disappointing patients” with its “arbitrary” stance of not entering into consultations with doctors while a strike was planned. Banfield wrote to Rishi Sunak asking ministers to enter into talks with junior doctors through mediation body Acas, which said the body was “well prepared and ready to assist” in resolving the dispute. ‘ said.
In the letter, Dr. Banfield wrote, “Patients are disappointed by the arbitrary presumption of non-negotiating during strike planning. It was your government that canceled the forthcoming meeting and withdrew from the scheduled consultations, even though they rightfully hoped to find a solution by doing so.
“We intend to negotiate before, during and after industrial action… Refusal to negotiate while industrial action is being planned is to the detriment of the patient. It is never too late to start and it is never too late to avoid further strikes.”
Young doctors are set to stage the largest strike in NHS history from July 13-18, while consultants (the NHS’s top doctors) are due to take industrial action from July 20-21. provides only large scale. Back “Christmas Day Cover”.
Hospitals have put together contingency plans to keep patients safe during industrial action. This includes reducing elective appointments and surgeries to ensure space and capacity for life-saving emergency services. Based on industrial action to date, the NHS Trust expects up to 300,000 appointments and surgeries to be canceled during the seven days of industrial action.
Young British doctors are calling for a 35% pay rise to make up for a 26% drop in real earnings and inflation in 2008-09. The government said the figures were “unrealistic and unaffordable”.
Last week, ministers unveiled the NHS’s long-term workforce plan, pledging to add more than 300,000 doctors, nurses and other health professionals to the health service over the next 15 years. However, additional funds he is only guaranteed for five years.
In his keynote address at the conference, Dr. Banfield welcomed the release of the plan, but said, “The crisis is now, the crisis is today,” adding, “While refusing to reverse years of declining salaries, the medical school It’s illogical to invest in a place like this,” he added.
Banfield said “all health care workers” could go on strike before the next general election. “If necessary, we will strike until the next general election and beyond. We are ready to negotiate in good faith, but this government is not.
“We would like to reiterate our clear message to Westminster through the junior doctor controversy.
“Consultants, on the other hand, have suffered the most pay cuts of any sector. The whole healthcare industry will be at stake in the next general election.”