LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Junior hospital doctors in England on Thursday began a five-day strike, a week before a general election in which the state of the publicly funded National Health Service (NHS) is a major issue.

It follows nearly a dozen similar actions by doctors below specialist, consultant level over the last 18 months.

The NHS is grappling with a massive backlog caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and exacerbated by the repeated doctors’ strikes.

As well as delays to operations and starting cancer treatment, an increasingly dissatisfied public also face long waits to see a doctor at their local surgery.

A recent survey suggested that less than a quarter of Britons were satisfied with the NHS, an unprecedented level.

The doctors have been asking for 35 percent “pay restoration” as a starting position amid a cost-of-living crisis.

They have said they will call off the action if Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak comes to the table with a credible commitment to increase their pay.

The strike will run until Tuesday, two days before next Thursday’s general election which the main opposition Labor party is expected to win.

Labor’s health spokesperson Wes Streeting has said any Labor government would not meet the 35 percent demand but that there is “space for a discussion.”

Decades-high inflation in 2023 saw workers from sectors across the economy stage walkouts from teachers to train drivers.