EUROPE

 EUROPE

Record-breaking doctors' strike piles pressure on England's health service

January 3, 20242:34 PM GMT+6Updated 

LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Junior doctors in England started a six-day walkout over pay on Wednesday, the longest strike in the 75-year history of the state-run National Health Service (NHS), which will hit patient care during a seasonal winter peak in demand.

As in other key sectors over the past year, junior doctors represented by the British Medical Association (BMA) have staged a series of walkouts to demand better pay in the face of soaring inflation.

In a statement, the union urged the government to make a "credible" pay offer to end the strikes, which threaten to increase the pressure on the health service, where more than 7.7 million on waiting lists seek treatment.

"Morale across the health service is at an all-time low ... Many will be wondering if their chosen career is still worth pursuing – the government has the chance to show those doctors they still have a future working in this country," the BMA said.

Cumulatively, the NHS, which has provided healthcare free at the point of use since it was founded in 1948, cancelled 1.2 million appointments since strikes began in 2023.

The government, which has agreed new pay deals with other healthcare workers, including nurses and senior doctors in recent months, has resisted hikes it says would worsen inflation.

The BMA abandoned talks with the government after being offered a pay rise of 8% to 10%, and held strikes from Dec. 20 to 23. The union is seeking a 35% improvement, which it says is needed to cover the impact of inflation over several years.

Junior doctors are qualified physicians, often with several years of experience, who work under the guidance of senior doctors and make up a large share of the medical community.

"This January could be one of the most difficult starts to the year the NHS has ever faced," Stephen Powis, its national medical director, said on Tuesday.

"The action will not only have an enormous impact on planned care, but comes on top of a host of seasonal pressures such as covid, flu, and staff absences due to sickness," he said in a statement.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that deals with other healthcare workers' unions showed the striking junior doctors were "outliers", however.

"We have sought to come to a fair resolution - fair for the taxpayer, fair for hardworking doctors and health workers," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"We have achieved that in the majority of cases ... we are willing to have further discussions. But obviously the first thing to do is to stop striking."

German unemployment slightly rises in December

BERLIN, Jan 3 (Reuters) - The number of unemployed people in Germany rose slightly in December, by much less than analysts had expected, labour office figures showed on Wednesday.

The Federal Labour Office said the number of people out of work increased by 5,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.703 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the total to rise by 20,000.

"The labour market is still holding up well in terms of the extent of the burdens and uncertainties," said Andrea Nahles, chairwoman of the Federal Employment Agency.

Nahles noted that 2023 was one of the years with the lowest unemployment since the reunification of Germany.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate slightly grew in December to 5.9%.

Russia says repelled over night rocket attack     

in Belgorod  region

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it downed 12 Ukrainian missiles in the western Belgorod region, which in recent days has been the target of multiple rocket attacks that have left dozens of people dead.

“This morning, another attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack on structures on the territory of the Russian Federation… was thwarted,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have described Ukrainian attacks on towns and cities inside Russia as “terrorist attacks.”

“Six Tochka-U TRK missiles and six Olkha MLRS missiles were destroyed over the Belgorod region by air defense systems on duty,” the Defense Ministry’s statement added.

There were no reports of any deaths or injuries in the overnight rocket attacks.