NHS boss' warning to patients over longest ever New Year junior doctors strike
The chairman of the NHS has admitted he is "fearful" of the impact of the New Year's junior doctor strike.
Junior doctors in England have returned to work after a 72-hour stoppage - but are preparing to mount the longest strike in NHS history as the dispute over pay rumbles on. The next strike will begin at 7am on January 3 and end at 7am on January 9.
Speaking this weekend, NHS England chairman Richard Meddings told the Sunday Times: "It just can't continue like this. The pressure on the NHS in normal times is significant, and we're doing a lot about that. But in winter it's particularly acute, and that's why I'm fearful."
NHS England chairman Richard Meddings said he is 'fearful' of the effects of the new strike (Professional Images/@ProfImages)He estimated that the strikes will take "three weeks out of the system", and said the NHS had already "lost over 40 days this year to strike action" in 2023. "Now they're choosing this particular period, which I think is really unfortunate.", he said. Meddings also revealed that his own wife was forced to wait for nine hours in A&E after she broke her ankle on her way back from the Chelsea Flower Show - but said he didn’t tell staff who he was as he "wanted the whole patient experience". Figures show almost a third of the 2.2million people who visited A&E last month had to wait longer than the four-hour target to be admitted, transferred or discharged.
It comes after NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor urged the Government and the British Medical Association (BMA) not to allow pride to get in the way of efforts to avert a walkout. He said the NHS had coped during the three-day strike which ended on Saturday morning but some patients, who would otherwise have gone home to spend Christmas with families, had not been able to be discharged.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
January's strike would be a different matter, he said, adding: "Six days of strike action following a bank holiday at a time of enormous pressure, there are real issues around patient safety and we don't have in place national derogations, which we have had for other strikes. So yes, there will be an impact on the backlog, but I also have real concerns about patient safety over these days."
Industrial action was announced early this month after weeks of talks between unions and ministers broke down. Junior doctors were offered a 3% rise on top of the average 8.8% increase they were given in the summer - but the BMA said the money would have been split unevenly across different grades and would "still amount to pay cuts for many doctors".
The Government said negotiations would not take place until the threat of strikes was lifted. Over the last three days, the BMA has urged the Government to get back around the table with junior doctors with a "credible" offer, and called on Health Secretary Victoria Atkins to "stop trying to divide the profession".
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has branded the junior doctor's action "disappointing" and urged junior doctors to call off strikes. Junior doctors in Wales are also planning a 72-hour walkout from January 15 while doctors in training in Northern Ireland are being balloted for strike action. Doctors in Scotland have already come to an agreement with the Holyrood government.
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