Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
International

Battle Over Health Care: Uk Doctors Walk Off The Job

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Apr, 2016 11:23 AM
    LONDON — Thousands of junior doctors posted picket lines outside hospitals around England on Tuesday in the first all-out strike in the history of Britain's National Health Service.
     
    The two-day strike marks the first time that vital NHS emergency services have been affected by an industrial action.
     
    The strike reflects the impasse between the government and the junior doctors — physicians with up to 10 years' experience — over the government's pledge to greatly expand National Health Service care on weekends.
     
    The financial dispute centres on whether day shifts on Saturday should be treated as a normal working day. The government proposal calls for extra pay for shifts on Saturday night and Sunday.
     
    Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt insisted the government would not be "blackmailed" into scrapping its election pledge to bolster weekend services. He said that promise was a centerpiece of the Conservative Party's platform in the 2015 election.
     
    "I don't think any union has the right to blackmail the government, to force the government to abandon a manifesto promise that the British people have voted on," he said.
     
    More than 125,000 appointments and operations have been cancelled and will need to be rearranged due to the strike, a result of the long-running dispute between the government and the British Medical Association.
     
    Hunt warned the walkout would cause particular risks for patients needing emergency room treatment and those in maternity wards and intensive care units.
     
    Mark Porter, head of the medical association, told the BBC that senior consulting physicians would provide emergency care while the junior doctors are on strike. He said the government was misleading the public by claiming the job action put lives at risk.
     
    "The Health Secretary is trying to find some way to throw mud at the junior doctors of this country who have been providing weekend and night emergency cover since the NHS started," he said.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    India, Canada Made For Each Other: PM Modi Tells Justin Trudeau

    India, Canada Made For Each Other: PM Modi Tells Justin Trudeau
    Modi and Trudeau met on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.

    India, Canada Made For Each Other: PM Modi Tells Justin Trudeau

    Jirga In Pakistan Settles Rape Case For 30 Mounds Of Wheat

    Jirga In Pakistan Settles Rape Case For 30 Mounds Of Wheat
    A case was registered with the local police in Ghulam Nabi Shah area of Umerkot district a few days ago on the complaint of the 14-year-old victim's brother, Sajan Shaikh.

    Jirga In Pakistan Settles Rape Case For 30 Mounds Of Wheat

    Sponsors Of Brussels Killers Suffer Crushing Defeat: Why Is West Silent?

    Sponsors Of Brussels Killers Suffer Crushing Defeat: Why Is West Silent?
    The biggest military defeat that ISIS has suffered in more than two years - the recapture of the Roman city of Empress Zenobia, and we are silent. Yes, folks, the bad guys won, didn’t they? Otherwise, we would all be celebrating, wouldn’t we?

    Sponsors Of Brussels Killers Suffer Crushing Defeat: Why Is West Silent?

    At Dinner With Obama, Modi Warns About State Actors Abetting Terrorists

    At Dinner With Obama, Modi Warns About State Actors Abetting Terrorists
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned global leaders from over 50 nations gathered here to discuss nuclear terrorism that state actors working with nuclear traffickers and terrorists present the greatest risk.

    At Dinner With Obama, Modi Warns About State Actors Abetting Terrorists

    Yoga College Opens In China, Attracts Thousands

    Yoga College Opens In China, Attracts Thousands
    The college figured in one of 24 agreements reached during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China in May last year. 

    Yoga College Opens In China, Attracts Thousands

    Justin Trudeau In Washington: Speech, White House Meeting Today On Nuke Safety

    Justin Trudeau In Washington: Speech, White House Meeting Today On Nuke Safety
    He's touting his middle-class tax cuts and plans to boost infrastructure spending, in a speech across the street from the White House.

    Justin Trudeau In Washington: Speech, White House Meeting Today On Nuke Safety