A doctor from the British Medical Association has been shut down by GB News host Emily Carver, as he defended junior doctor strikes taking place this week.
Junior doctors walked out on January 3 at 7am, amid an ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions.
The walkout will span six days and end on January 9, the longest strike action in NHS history.
The BMA has demanded a 35 per cent pay rise, in line with what they call “below-inflation rises” since 2008.
Junior Doctors strike in a continued dispute over pay and working conditions
PA
NHS England medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, previously called the walkouts “hugely disruptive”.
Powis stated: “These strikes come at a time that will cause huge disruption to the NHS, with services already feeling the strain of winter pressure.”
Speaking to GB News, Chair of the BMA North Thames Committee Dr Arjan Singh, said they have an “agreed process” with NHS England meet with them “four times a day” to discuss patient safety matters.
Singh then “implored” the NHS to use the process already agreed, stating that they’ve “managed to use it fine for the last 8 strikes”.
GB News host Emily Carver hit back at Singh, stating: “I’m sorry, doctor, but your union is playing with people’s lives here.
“We’ve seen tens of thousands of appointments cancelled, a million appointments cancelled over the past year of strike action.
“Do you not sometimes look at the actions of your union and think, hang on a minute, maybe this isn’t the kind and thoughtful thing to be doing, you’re a doctor after all?”
Singh responded: “We’ve opened the door to the government, we always have and we said that a credible offer is all that it would take for us to call off these strikes.
Dr Arjan Singh defended the junior doctor strikes
GB News
Singh then responded by claiming the government “has responded” and said they will “not negotiate with us during strike action”.
Singh continued: “Now that is a rule that they’ve imposed themselves and more importantly, it’s a rule they don’t follow with the criminal barristers they negotiated during strikes in Scotland, they negotiated with doctors whilst they had strike action called and more importantly we have seen what happens with the nurses.”
It comes as Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said the health service “cannot be switched on and off on whim” as she warned that the walkouts are having “very serious consequences” for patients and other NHS workers.
Junior doctors in England are in the middle of a six-day strike, the longest walkout in NHS history.
Ms Atkins promised to start talks in 20 minutes if the strikes were called off.
Speaking on a visit to London Ambulance Service, Ms Atkins said she supported local health leaders who made calls for striking doctors to return to work amid patient safety fears.
A number of hospitals in England have pleaded for medics to leave picket lines and get back to work due to safety concerns, also known as derogation requests.
But a row erupted after the BMA said that the derogation process was being “undermined” by the health service and it suggested that the requests were being made due to “political pressure”.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Ms Atkins said: “It is absolutely for NHS leaders to decide which services need to be protected, I trust their medical judgment, their clinical judgment with these mitigations that they’re seeking.
“I absolutely support them in seeking these mitigations, but it is for local health leaders who know their hospitals, know their patients and know their rotas, it is for them to make those decisions and I trust them and their judgment.”
