The longest strike in the history of the NHS is getting under way as junior doctors take part in a six-day walkout. NHS leaders warned that the health service was facing its “toughest challenge yet” as figures revealed that more than 337,000 appointments and operations had been cancelled in London due to industrial action.
Back in May, NHS staff other than doctors accepted a pay offer of 5% extra, plus a one-off lump sum, while strike action by consultants has been put on hold as they vote on a fresh offer from the government.
NHS strikes
Junior doctors have taken part in 28 days of strike action in their pay dispute. The first walkout was in March last year. Before that, other NHS staff, including nurses and ambulance staff, were involved in strike action.
Over the past year more than 1.2 million appointments and treatments have had to be cancelled because of industrial action. Strike action was suspended in October to allow pay talks to take place between the government and the BMA. But the BMA ended those talks after its deadline of early December passed without a resolution.
An offer of a pay rise averaging 3%, from January, was being discussed, which would have been on top of the average of nearly 9% junior doctors received in April. But the BMA said that was too little – junior doctors had asked for an extra 35%, to make up for below-inflation pay rises since 2008.
BMA junior doctors committee co-chairmen Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said the government needed to come forward with a “credible offer”, stating “doctors would have liked to start the new year with the hope of an offer on pay that would lead to a better-staffed health service and a better-valued profession.”
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said junior doctors should call off their strike and “come back to the negotiating table so we can find a fair and reasonable solution to end the strikes once and for all”.
Disruption to NHS services
Ahead of the strike, NHS England medical director Prof Sir Stephen Powis said the NHS was facing one of its most difficult starts to a year since 1948. Sir Stephen said rising rates of respiratory illnesses, such as Covid and flu, and staff sickness were making this walkout “very challenging” in what is always one of the busiest times of the year for the health service.
Routine hospital services, such as planned operations, like hip and knee replacements and check-ups, will be hugely disrupted because senior doctors are being moved across to provide cover in emergency care. But even then, not every area is able to keep all its A&E services running. Cheltenham A&E, for example, will not open, with emergency care provided by the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, in neighbouring Gloucester, which is run by the same NHS trust. There is particular concern among NHS bosses about some urgent areas of cancer care and maternity services, such as emergency caesareans. An appeal by NHS Employers, which represents hospitals, for a strike exemption for urgent cases in these areas was rejected by the BMA.
Curia’s NHS Innovation and Life Sciences Commission
Independent, cross-party, and not-for-profit, as a policy institute Curia turns policy into practice as the UK’s first “do tank”.
Jointly chaired by former Life Sciences and Innovation Minister, Lord James O’Shaughnessy and former Deputy Medical Director at NHS England Professor Mike Bewick, the NHS Innovation and Life Sciences Commission seeks to identify examples of good practice in innovation, draw learning and consider how implementation plans across the sector can improve the lives of patients. By bringing together key strands of policy and developing effective implementation strategies through extensive research, the Commission seeks to see change at every level within the NHS.