Why doctors dey strike for UK

Consultants and junior doctors for England dey stage dia first joint strike in di history of di National Health Service, NHS.

Consultants waka comot around 7:00 BST and dem go dey joined by di junior doctors on Wednesday morning.

Di strike wey consultants of di British Medical Association organise go last for two days, while di one by junior doctors go hold for three days.

Emergencies go dey taken care of throughout – but NHS oga dem tok say patients go still dey in danger.

E mean say di pay disagreementG between di goment and doctors don worse.

Services wey di strike go affect

Dem don advise pipo wey need emergency care to use accident-and-emergency units as normal or call 999.

For oda health concerns, make dem call 111 or use GP services – even though di services fit dey disrupted, as some junior doctors dey also work as GP trainees.

Routine services, including non-emergency operations and appointments, fit no work well.

Dem for don tell patients about any postponements in advance.

During dia 48-hour walkout, consultants go provide "Christmas Day" cover – emergency services go get staff and some basic level of cover for di wards wia dem admit pipo.

Wen junior doctors join dem on Wednesday dis type of arrangement go dey for dem.

Na junior doctors dey account for nearly half NHS doctors – from medics fresh out of university to di ones wey get 10 years experience.

On Thursday, wen di consultant strike end, junior doctors go stage a full strike, dis one mean say dem go draft consultants across, to provide cover.

NHS England medical director Prof Sir Stephen Powis say: "Di NHS neva see dis kind of industrial action before in dia history. E come wit serious challenge."

Matthew Taylor, of di NHS Confederation, say im bin dey fear say ministers dey underestimate di risks of di strikes, e describe di situation as dangerous.

Hospitals bin dey report say dem don cancel di appointments of some patients wey suppose get treatments and appointments for di second or third time, im tok.

Which impact dis strike go get?

Dis na di third walkout by consultants and di sixth by junior doctors. For each case, dem don reschedule significant amounts of routine work.

Some hospitals don report say dem don stop up to half of dia normal levels of activity during di strikes.

Dem don postpone almost one million appointments and treatments, including some cancer care, sake of di industrial action since December.

E include disruption wey di walkouts by oda staff groups including nurses, radiographers and ambulance workers dey cause.

But di doctors walkouts don cause di most disruption.

Last week, di Shelford Group, wey represent 10 of di biggest hospital trusts for di kontri, bin warn say di scale of di disruption wey dey happun now don "increase di risk of harm by force" to patients.

But plenty of doctors go continue to work.

As well as British Medical Association, (BMA) doctors wey dey provide official cover during di strikes, dem include specialty and specialist (SAS) doctors, between di grade of junior and consultant, wey make up just under 10% of di medical workforce.

Wetin dey more, about one out of every three doctors no be BMA member.

How far apart di two sides dey?

E don pass 100 days since di health secretary sitdown wit BMA leaders for tok-tok about dia pay – and none dey planned.

Mr Barclay say di pay rise dis year na "final and fair" settlement and e meet di independent pay review body recommendations.

Dem give consultants 6%, junior doctors an average of 8.8% depending on dia level.

Mr Barclay also tok say im bin dey look at introducing minimum service levels in hospitals during strikes – wey go define di number of doctors, nurses, and oda staff dem go need to cover urgent and emergency cover.

Currently, dem need to provide life-and-limb cover, but dem dey negotiate am locally.

Di pay increase mean say junior doctors basic salary dey between £32,400 to £63,150, while consultants fit earn up to £126,300.

And doctors earn about a quarter to a third more on top of dis, on average, for tins like unsociable hours and additional work.

Junior doctors bin dey pursue a 35% increase, to make up for wetin dem call years of below-inflation wage rises.

Consultants neva put any figure on wetin dem go like but dem insist say e must dey above inflation, to help dem start to restore pay wey dem go lose once dem add inflation.

BMA leader Dr Philip Banfield say if di goment care about patients dem go "reopen tok-tok and come to di table wit a credible offer".