Ambulance services will take industrial action on 23rd of January, 2023. DAUK’s Dr Dolin Bhagawati spoke to i News and said focusing on the disruption on strike days was a “distraction”.
“We are already seeing disruption in the NHS on non-strike days. The focus on strike days is a distraction from problems patients are facing on a daily basis, on non-strike days – which are more common,” he told i.
He said neurosurgery patients often needed to be transferred to specialist units and he was seeing consequences of delays on a daily basis. Patients’ conditions worsened through the delays, resulting in a greater degree of disability, which then required more treatment.
“That is what frontline medical staff has been screaming about for most of 2022 and certainly over the summer, and it was completely ignored.”
He said the fact that the Government was not seriously talking to the unions about pay was of “grave concern”. “At this point, it is government policy to pursue and allow strike action.”
