
The NHS is bracing for a four-day junior doctors strike that looks set to be “the most disruptive industrial action in NHS history”, according to Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director.
In a statement, NHS England announced that staff will be asked to prioritise emergency and urgent care over some routine appointments and procedures to ensure safe care for those in life-threatening situations during the walkout over pay, in which the medics are demanding a 35 per cent raise to make up for what they have described as 15 years of below-inflation wage rises.