By Sophie Borland Health Reporter
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Damage: Patients will suffer as a result of the action, Katherine Murphy, pictured, warned
Thousands of GP appointments and hospital operations will be cancelled next month if doctors decide to take part in their first strike in nearly 40 years.
The British Medical Association, the doctors’ union, will begin voting today on whether to carry out industrial action to protest over their pensions.
Although they have ruled-out staging an all-out strike â€" saying it would put patients at risk â€" they are strongly considering only treating emergency cases over a period of 24 hours.
A document sent out by the BMA to its 141,000 members explains that although they would turn up to work as normal, they ‘would not undertake duties that could safely be postponed.’
But there is widespread concern such protests â€" which would mark the first industrial action since 1975 â€" will bring the NHS to its knees and endanger patients.
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients’ Association said: ‘This is drastic action and its patient s who will suffer.
‘How can doctors decide which patients are emergencies and which patients aren’t?
‘It’s a huge risk to patients. It’s difficult enough to see a GP as it is. This action would be extreme.’
The BMA’s members will now spend the next two weeks voting whether to carry out industrial action.
If the majority rule in favour, the protest would take part over a period of 24 hours at the end of June.
Dispute: Public sector workers take to the streets during nationwide strikes last month. Doctors could soon be staging similar action
The document sent out by the BMA to doctors last week states that ‘care that is not urgent or emergency care should be postponed in advance wherever possible.
It adds that planned or ‘elective’ operations and clinics would be cancelled.
Instead doctors would be urged to demonstrate against the planned pension changes by carrying placards or banners.
The BMA is furious over Government proposals to make them contribute more from their salaries into their pension pots and retire up to the age of 68.
At present doctors retire at 60, and the average male can look forward to a pension of £46,000 a year.
But some have already retired on payouts of £140,000 a year as part of packages worth £4 million.
By comparison more than two thirds of private workers do not even belong to a pension scheme.
Health minister Simon Burns said: ‘There is no justification for doctors to take industrial action. Industrial action, on anyone’s part, will gain them nothing.
‘Our proposals mean doctors will continue to receive pensions that are among the highest in the public or private sectors.’
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