NHS strikes will cause serious disruption for weeks, warns top doctor
NHS patients face weeks of serious disruption following the junior doctors’ strike, England’s top doctor has warned.
Junior doctors are set to begin a six-day walkout – the longest continuous industrial action in NHS history – at 7am on Wednesday.
The strike is taking place during one of the health service’s busiest periods.
It is set to add more pressure on the NHS, which is already stretched responding to cases of flu and other winter illnesses and rising staff absences due to coronavirus.
NHS medical director Sir Stephen Powis said January could be one of the most difficult starts to the year the NHS has ever faced.
Sir Stephen added: “Six consecutive days of industrial action comes at one of our busiest periods – 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 – all of which is impacting on how patients flow through hospitals.”
The number of people in hospital with flu has jumped to an average of 942 each day last week – almost six times the number compared to the week before, according to the latest NHS data.
Cancer patients are among those who will be hit by the industrial action as up to one in three operations will be cancelled at hospitals across England because of the walkouts.
Many will not be informed of the cancellation until the day before their operation.
Almost all routine care will be significantly affected by the strike as consultants step in to cover and urgent cases are prioritised, the NHS said.
Sir Stephen said: “Our colleagues across the health service are doing their very best for patients every day with extensive preparations in place, but there’s no doubt they are starting 2024 on the back foot – not only will action impact next week, it will continue to have a serious impact in the weeks after, as we recover services and deal with additional demand.”
Patients who require care are being advised to contact the NHS as normal – using 999 and A&E services in the event of life-threatening emergencies and using 111 for everything else.
The British Medical Association (BMA) union, is calling for junior doctors to get a 35 per cent pay rise, which it says would restore their real earnings to 2008 levels.
It has accused the Department of Health and Social Care of failing to put forward a “credible offer” to end the pay dispute.
“It is clear the Government is still not prepared to address the real-terms pay cut doctors have experienced since 2008,” BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said last month.
The Government has offered a 3 per cent rise in addition to the average 8.8 per cent increase doctors were given for 2023-2024.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins has urged the BMA to cancel the strikes and accused the union of walking away from negotiations.
