It is a historic strike. Resident doctors in England They began this Wednesday, January 3, 2024, a six-day strike to demand better salary conditions. This is the largest strike recorded in the history of the British public health system.

This group, which includes both recent graduates and veteran professionalswho study higher degreeswill leave their duties from today at 7 in the morning until the same time on January 9, in the longest strike since the founding of the National Health System (NHS) in 1948.

These doctors, who have already carried out 28 days of work stoppage in 2023, voted in favor of returning to the picket lines after negotiations between the British Medical Association (BMA) union and the Conservative Government of the United Kingdom broke down in December .

The collective, encrypted in some 75,000 professionals in the England region -half of the workforce, in the most populated territory of the country-, rejected an offer of an increase made last summer of 8.8%, considering that they need 35% more to compensate for the loss of purchasing power since 2008 .

The strike began this January 3 will mainly affect scheduled consultationsmany of which have been canceled as staff concentrate on emergencies, which NHS managers call one of the busiest planned weeks of the year, after the festive period.

Break in Wales and Northern Ireland

For their part, doctors residing in Wales also plan to carry out a 72-hour strike starting January 15, while those in North Ireland They also value going on strike. Scotland’s professionals already reached an agreement with the Scottish Autonomous Government in 2023.

Last year, numerous professional groups went on strike in the United Kingdom, including nurses, ambulance staff and specialist doctors, along with postmen and customs and railway workers.

The 2023 medical strikes led to the cancellation of more than 1.2 million appointments, costing the NHS around £2 billion (€2.3 billion), according to official data.

The Minister of Health, Victoria Atkins, has assured that the medical residents –– who in some cases charge 14 pounds (16 euros) an hour – should “return to the negotiating table in order to find a fair and reasonable solution that will end the strikes once and for all.”