Hospitals in London are striving to protect patients, says Health Secretary Wes Streeting as he condemned doctors for going on strike.
Health bosses and other NHS staff are seeking to limit the number of operations, other treatments and appointments that they are forced to postpone due to the walkout by resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors.
The capital is expected to be particularly hard hit by the six-day strike, which began at 7am on April 7, given the large number of doctors in training at teaching hospitals.
Speaking to the Standard, Mr Streeting said: "Londoners will be understandably anxious and frustrated that resident doctors are out on strike yet again.
“I want to reassure Londoners and everyone across England that the NHS is still here for you this week when you need it.”
He praised consultants, other doctors and health staff who have stepped in to keep services running as best as possible.
“My attention and that of leaders across the NHS in London is now on protecting patients and staff by minimising disruption to the health service,” he added.
The Cabinet minister stressed that almost 95 per cent of planning activity was delivered by the NHS during the industrial action by doctors in December.
Meanwhile, the head of the NHS claimed that the resident doctor strikes have been “deliberately timed to cause havoc”.
On Wednesday, medics in training across England began the second day of their walkout in a row over pay and jobs.
Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, said that many hospitals had found it “challenging” to fill rotas following the Easter weekend.
Health officials previously highlighted that the strike would be particularly disruptive because of the action taking place during the Easter break, when many NHS staff will have booked time off with their families.
But Sir Jim said that hospitals were in “as good a place as we could hope” after the first day of the walkout.
“I know today has been tough for staff picking up the strain across the country – and how disruptive and challenging it’s been for many hospitals to manage it and fill their rotas following the Easter weekend,” he said in a letter to healthcare leaders on Tuesday evening.
“We cannot forget this action has been deliberately timed to cause havoc.”
NHS England has said that it will keep as much pre-planned care running as possible, and patients are urged to attend appointments unless they have been contacted.
Urgent and emergency care will run as usual.
This week’s strike, the 15th since 2023, is expected to cost £300 million, with the cumulative bill over three years now topping £3 billion.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the British Medical Association’s (BMA) resident doctors committee, said: “These strikes were entirely avoidable.
“If we keep treating doctors as an inconvenience rather than an asset, we will end up with an NHS that simply doesn’t have enough residents or consultant doctors to give patients the surgery and procedures they need.
“We’re willing to end these strikes, Mr Streeting needs to be too.”
Resident doctors have been awarded pay rises worth 33 per cent over the past four years, but the BMA says they are still getting a fifth less than they were in 2008 once inflation is taken into account.
Millions of workers in other sectors in Britain have seen real-term pay cuts in recent years, after inflation spiked due to Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine war and supply chain problems as the country came out of the Covid pandemic.
With junior doctors starting six day strike today, most Britons continue to oppose the industrial action
— YouGov (@YouGov) April 7, 2026
Support: 37% (-1 from 26 March)
Oppose: 55% (+2)
Results link in replies pic.twitter.com/z1ZSUQeSFy
Resident doctors also appear to be losing public support in their industrial action.
New YouGov polling found that 55 per cent of British adults oppose resident doctors going on strike.
Some 37 per cent said they support the action, according to the survey of 4,385 adults in Britain.
Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for doctors to be banned from striking.
She accused the BMA of “betraying the patients that its members swore to serve”.
Passing by the picket line of striking resident doctors outside St Thomas’ Hospital in central London on Tuesday, member of the public Sandra Piper, 69, said: “We’ve got somebody sick in the family, so I don’t want anyone to go on strike.”
One patient whose appointment has been cancelled told the BBC he was “very worried” as a result.
Adrian Emery, 55, from Nottinghamshire, was due to have a telephone appointment on Tuesday after having a number of mini strokes.
His appointment, his first follow-up appointment to review medication and speak to a specialist, was initially rescheduled for mid-June, but that has also been cancelled now.
“I’m very worried, because my grandfather actually had a very serious stroke. I hope I don’t have a full stroke before I am seen,” he said.
Speaking at a picket line at Bristol Royal Infirmary, Dr Sam Taylor-Smith claimed the public were generally supportive of the resident doctors’ strikes, though some were “understandably frustrated with the longevity” of them.
He said he would apologise to patients who had experienced cancellations but added he was doing so “365 days a year” due to inadequate levels of staffing.
