Thousands of UK Doctors Hold Walkout

LONDON (NEWSnet/AP) — Thousands of senior doctors in England began a 48-hour walkout Thursday to demand better pay and conditions, paralyzing hospitals and leaving only emergency care covered.
The disruption is the latest action by public-sector workers amid U.K.'s cost-of-living upheaval. It comes two days after junior doctors went on strike for five days, the longest walkout in the history of the state-funded National Health Service.
Thousands of operations and appointments have been canceled. Health officials say the impact is immense, because almost no work can be done at hospitals unless it's supervised by a senior doctor.
Senior doctors, known as consultants in the U.K., will be “on call” only for urgent work, such as critical cancer care, until Saturday morning.
The government has offered a 6% pay increase to the doctors, but British Medical Association, the doctors' union known as BMA, called that “derisory." It said doctors have seen real-term take-home pay fall by more than one-third over the past 14 years, and accused authorities of refusing to engage in salary negotiations.
According to BMA, senior doctors on a 2003 contract earn a starting salary of about 88,300 pounds ($113,453), rising to around 119,100 pounds after 20 years. Doctors argue the wage has fallen behind that of other highly trained professionals, such as lawyers.
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