2 in 5 doctors at Morecambe Bay hospitals are juniors – as strike takes place across England

This week, junior doctors staged a strike over poor pay and working conditions – with the British Medical Association, a union for medical professionals, saying junior doctors have suffered a 26% real terms cut to their pay since 2008-09.

Figures from NHS England show there were the equivalent of 255 full-time junior doctors working at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust as of December – 40.3% of the 631 doctors working at the trust.

Across England there were 66,000 junior doctors working for hospital and community health services as of December 2022, making up 49.9% of all clinicians.

The strike organised by the BMA – which represents around 50,000 junior doctors – is set to last 96 hours, and end on Saturday April 15.

Figures for the number striking by NHS Trust were not available.

Any doctor below consultant level is referred to as 'junior', meaning junior doctors encompass doctors just starting in the NHS and those who have been training for many years for specialist positions.

They receive a wide range of salaries, with 'Foundation Year 1 doctors' – the most junior category – starting on around £29,000 a year.

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay has 43 such doctors working at the trust at this point, alongside a further 59 second year foundation doctors.

In December 2019, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay had 230 junior doctors at this point, or 38.4% of all doctors working at the organisation.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the walkouts have “clearly been timed to have an impact on patients”, given increased pressures on the health service after Easter.

“We recognise junior doctors have been under significant pressure, particularly from the pandemic, and we want to work with them to find a fair and reasonable settlement,” he added.

Dr Sumi Manirajan, deputy co-chairwoman of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, told Sky News: “I can’t guarantee that no lives will be put at risk but what I can guarantee is that 500 patients are dying (every week) waiting for care at the moment,” she said.

She said the union will guarantee emergency and essential care during the strike.