South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck pledges her support to striking junior doctors

Emma Lewell-Buck joined the picket line alongside junior doctors outside of South Tyneside District Hospital on Wednesday, April 12.

The MP for South Shields posted photos on her Twitter account with the junior doctors holding up signs encouraging the government to grant them the requested pay rise.

In a tweet, the MP said: “I joined the BMA junior doctors striking today at South Tyneside Hospital over a 26% real-terms pay cut and unsustainable working conditions.

“I’m backing their fight.

“The Government can’t fix the managed decline of the NHS without getting around the table with our junior doctors.”

Junior doctors walked out at 7am on Tuesday, April 11, and will remain on strike until 7am on Saturday, April 15 - making it the longest single period of industrial action affecting the NHS to date.

The strike, organised by the British Medical Association (BMA), is over pay cuts and unsuitable working conditions for junior doctors.

The BMA claims that junior doctors across England have experienced a 26% real-terms pay cut since 2008 due to pay rises having been below inflation.

The union is asking the government to issue a full pay restoration, which ministers say would amount to a 35% pay rise.

Ahead of the strike, NHS Trusts across the North East issued a joint statement warning patients of disruption to services throughout the industrial action period.

The statement said: “As hospital providers we are very concerned.

“The prospect of not having junior doctors available for 96 hours at such a critical time after Easter will have an inevitable and noticeable impact on the quality of care we can provide.

“Junior doctors are a vital and much valued part of the NHS workforce and to have such a big part of our teams missing is a deep worry for us all.”

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