Almost all routine NHS care in England will be disrupted for three days this week when junior doctors strike in their latest attempt to force ministers to increase their pay.
Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said the stoppage would have an enormous impact and lead to huge numbers of patients missing out on planned care.
Many thousands of junior doctors are due to stage a 72-hour walkout starting at 7am on Wednesday and continuing until 7am on Saturday.
“The NHS has been preparing extensively for this next set of strikes,” said Powis. “But we know that – with the sheer number of appointments that need to be rescheduled – it will have an enormous impact on routine care for patients and on the waiting list, as procedures can take time to rearrange with multiple teams involved.”
About 27,000 junior doctors stayed off work every day and 196,000 outpatient appointments and operations had to be postponed when they held their last strike, over four days in April. They are seeking a 35% salary rise to restore the value of their pay to 2008-09 levels. The health secretary, Steve Barclay, has said their claim was unreasonable.
The British Medical Association’s junior doctors’ committee intends to start reballoting its members next week, seeking a new mandate for strikes for a further six months that, if enough doctors back renewed strike action to meet the legal threshold, could result in walkouts until early 2024. The union intends to stage a three-day stoppage every month for the foreseeable future.
Speaking to Sophie Ridge on Sky News on Sunday, committee co-chair Dr Robert Laurenson defended its tactics, saying: “Our members have given us a clear instruction: they would like us to pursue full pay restoration back to 2008 and that’s what we intend to do in our representation of our doctors and our healthcare system.”
The NHS Confederation, which represents health service trusts, said patients’ health could suffer because this week’s stoppage would exacerbate the NHS’s care backlog, which already stands at a record 7.4 million.
“The delay to elective care is what concerns [trust] leaders most, and has a real impact on patients, many of whom will have already been waiting a long time only to see their operation cancelled,” said Matthew Taylor, the confederation’s chief executive. The impact of this can be significant, with patients potentially developing complications or their condition worsening as a result.
“It also means that the waiting list, currently at 7.4 million, is likely to grow further and take longer to clear,” he said.
Fewer consultants are willing to work extra shifts to help cover for striking junior colleagues unless they are paid rates that the British Medical Association, the main doctors’ union, believes are appropriate – but which many trusts see as excessive.
Trusts plan to have as many staff on duty as possible during the strike. But hospitals lobby group NHS Providers voiced concern that too few may be available to work nightshifts.
“Staff groups including consultants, paramedics, pharmacists and community matrons will be able to support [services], though there’s a worry around finding adequate night cover,” said Saffron Cordery, the organisation’s deputy chief executive.
More than 542,000 consultations and surgical procedures have been rescheduled across the NHS since nurses, ambulance staff, junior doctors and physiotherapists began striking over pay last December.
“This figure will now likely climb in the coming days and weeks, especially if nurses, consultants and radiographers soon vote in favour of industrial action,” Cordery said.
She urged the BMA and ministers to resume negotiations. “This can’t continue,” she said. “We risk sleepwalking into a summer of strikes if talks don’t resume as a matter of urgency.”
