'We will end up with an NHS without doctors'

A paediatrician who has taken to a picket line and joined dozens of resident doctors as they began a six-day strike over jobs and pay has said the NHS may "end up without doctors" if the long-running dispute continues.

The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents the doctors, has been holding strikes in England since 2023. This latest action – the 15th strike – comes after talks broke down at the end of March.

Dr Melissa Ryan, 45, a paediatric registrar, said she was frustrated that the government was cutting training places and some children were waiting years for assessments.

The government says the doctors' expectations are unreasonable and unrealistic.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the long-running dispute with resident doctors, formerly called junior doctors, had so far cost the NHS an estimated £3bn.

Ryan, who works at Lincoln County Hospital but was on the picket line outside Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, said: "We've got young doctors coming through and then they're worried about finding a job. If we continue this way, we are going to end up with an NHS without doctors.

"We're disappointed that we're back out on strike. To be perfectly honest, I don't want to be on strike, I want to be at work."

NHS officials have said the strike, which started at 07:00 BST on Tuesday, would be "difficult" but urgent and emergency care would run as usual.

Senior medics have been drafted in to provide cover in emergency settings, but some pre-planned treatments and appointments have been cancelled.

Despite receiving pay rises worth 33% over the past four years, the BMA argues that doctors are still being paid a fifth less than they were in 2008 once inflation is taken into account.

The government offered a package of measures last month in a bid to end the dispute, including 1,000 additional training places, but the package was withdrawn after the union announced industrial action.

Ryan said: "I work with children and I see families who are waiting months, sometimes years, for appointments, to get assessments for kids. ADHD is a prime example. That's not because doctors don't care, it's because there's not enough of us.

"It's frustrating that the government seems to want to solve the staffing crisis by cutting further training places. Doctors shouldn't be a cost, they should be seen as means to reducing the waiting lists."

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