Critically ill patients ‘will inevitably die’ due to junior doctors’ strike

The surgeons said NHS heart units would have too few medics available during the four-day stoppage by junior doctors to run normal operating lists. Photograph: Curtseyes/Alamy

Critically ill patients “will inevitably die” because hospitals are having to cancel surgery as a direct result of next week’s junior doctors’ strike in England, leading heart experts have warned.

There were bound to be fatalities among people with serious heart problems whose precarious health meant they were “a ticking timebomb” and needed surgery as soon as possible, they said.