NHS warns of ‘major disruption’ with services already experiencing high demand due to junior doctors’ strike
As junior doctors in England begin another five-day full walkout from today, trust leaders are calling for immediate action to address the ongoing pay dispute with medics, alongside various other pressing workforce issues after the general election.
Approximately 25,000 junior doctors are expected to participate in the strike, which begins at 7am on Thursday, June 27, and concludes at the same time on Tuesday, July 2.
This is the 11th time they have gone on strike over pay, bringing the total strike days to 44 days since they first took industrial action in March 2023 in pursuit of a 35 per cent pay rise.
Previous strikes have led to the NHS cancelling 1.4 million outpatient appointments and operations and spending £1.7 billion to mitigate disruption, according to The Guardian.
NHS Providers, a membership organisation dedicated to supporting NHS foundation trusts and trusts, has warned that the next government “must hit the ground running” to prevent election pledges from being derailed by severe NHS workforce challenges.
Trust leaders urged the next government to make early announcements on resolving industrial action, public sector pay awards for this year, and funding for posts to bridge the gap between “politicians’ bold ambitions for health services and the overstretched NHS workforce’s ability to deliver them.”
They highlighted the urgent in-tray issues for the new health and social care secretary including resolving the ongoing dispute with junior doctors, announcing fully funded 2024/25 pay awards for NHS staff, and fully funding the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.
Junior doctors’ strike is likely to lead to tens of thousands more appointments and procedures being postponed for patients.
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive, NHS Providers, said: “A week before the country goes to the polls, patients are likely to see tens of thousands more appointments postponed on top of the 1.5m operations, scans and other care hit by industrial action across the NHS since December 2022.”
He asserted that important plans to drive down waiting times and improve patient care cannot be realised without a thriving NHS workforce.
“All parties have put the NHS high on the political agenda with pledges to cut waiting times and give patients greater access to care. None of this can be achieved, though, without a thriving NHS workforce.
“Staff are the lifeblood of the NHS but almost a year on from publication of the long-term workforce plan, trusts are still grappling with staff burnout and lots of unfilled jobs.
“Failure to resolve strike action by junior doctors has caused huge disruption to patient care.”
He emphasised the critical need for the next government to invest in the workforce to restore staff confidence and reset the relationship with NHS employees.
Without such action, he warned that political ambitions are “at risk of being beyond reach.”
NHS warns of ‘major disruption’ due to strike action
The NHS has warned of a “major disruption” in the East of England due to strike action by junior doctors, amid a yellow heat health alert in the region.
With the region already experiencing high service demand, the NHS is urging the public to use services carefully. “NHS 111 services will be available for urgent needs, and 999 for emergencies,” it said.
Consultants, who make up half of the medical workforce, will step in for junior doctors. However, almost all routine care is likely to be adversely affected during this time, with urgent and emergency services taking priority.
Dr Edward Morris, medical director for the NHS in the east of England said that they are bracing themselves for widespread disruption and significant pressure on the region’s NHS services, as the latest strike coincides with the “hottest week of the year so far.”
The strike action in February resulted in the rescheduling of 9,474 inpatient and outpatient appointments in the East of England, with 2,867 staff absent from work at the peak of the strikes, according to the NHS.
