Close X
Thursday, November 14, 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

    Huge Gas Resource In B.C., Yukon And NWT, But Will It Get To Market?

    Huge Gas Resource In B.C., Yukon And NWT, But Will It Get To Market?
    One of the world's largest supplies of shale natural gas is sitting beneath an area spanning the British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories boundaries, according to a new study.

    Huge Gas Resource In B.C., Yukon And NWT, But Will It Get To Market?

    Alberta's Alternative Wind Energy Industry Is Getting Bigger Role

    Alberta's Alternative Wind Energy Industry Is Getting Bigger Role
    Windswept is the word often used to describe the region with its rolling hills, cattle ranches, farms and the Rocky Mountains to the west.

    Alberta's Alternative Wind Energy Industry Is Getting Bigger Role

    Obama Picks White Judge As Apex Court Nominee

    Obama Picks White Judge As Apex Court Nominee
    Obama's nominee Merrick Garland, 63, a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, is much older than Chandigarh-born Srinivasan and other contenders on his short list such as judges Paul Watford and Jane Kelly

    Obama Picks White Judge As Apex Court Nominee

    Judge: Chipotle's Social Media Policy Violates Us Labour Laws

    Judge: Chipotle's Social Media Policy Violates Us Labour Laws
    An administrative judge found Chipotle's social media policy violated federal labour laws while ruling in favour of a Philadelphia-area employee who was fired after criticizing the company on Twitter last year.

    Judge: Chipotle's Social Media Policy Violates Us Labour Laws

    Pennsylvania Man, 36, Admits To Stealing Hollywood Stars' Nude Images

    Pennsylvania Man, 36, Admits To Stealing Hollywood Stars' Nude Images
    Ryan Collins, 36, is accused of gaining access to more than 100 Google and Apple accounts, many belonging to famous women, between November 2012 and September 2014.

    Pennsylvania Man, 36, Admits To Stealing Hollywood Stars' Nude Images

    Trump, Clinton Solidly On Course For Party Nominations

    Trump, Clinton Solidly On Course For Party Nominations
    Donald Trump offered himself Wednesday as the inevitable Republican presidential nominee, warning that if party leaders try to deny him the nomination at a contested convention when he is leading the delegate count, "You'd have riots."

    Trump, Clinton Solidly On Course For Party Nominations