Tens of thousands of British patients are set to be affected from Wednesday amid widespread disruption caused by a six-day junior doctors’ strike – the longest in the history of the NHS in 75 years.
Health charities said people who had their appointments cancelled – including those with cancer and sight problems – would be feeling anxious and distressed and at risk of their conditions worsening as the stoppage leads to delays in receiving help.
The Patients’ Association said patient safety could be at risk as hospitals have too few staff to cope with the strike, which began at 7am. It urged ministers and the British Medical Association (BMA) to bring in mediators to help resolve the long-running dispute over junior doctors’ pay after talks before Christmas broke down.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s chief executive, said: “It is likely that several thousand appointments will be cancelled or rescheduled again, and this is in addition to 1.2 million appointments that have been cancelled over more than a year now with periods of industrial action.”
Powis said 13 months of strikes by doctors, nurses and other staff had had “a huge impact on the NHS”. This week’s strike will be the 10th different junior doctors’ strike since March. By the time it ends on Tuesday next week, they will have refused to work for a total of 34 days.
The previous 28 days of action have led to the rescheduling of nearly one million outpatient appointments and operations. Powis added that this week’s strike threatens to be the toughest yet for the NHS to deal with because of its unprecedented length and because the BMA chose to stage it during a week when the service was already “incredibly busy” dealing with an increase in winter illnesses. He said: “These strikes are the worst time of year for the NHS.”
The Royal National Institute of Blind People expressed concern that many patients would be “coping this week with the distressing news that their appointment has been cancelled, rescheduled or delayed”. Phil Ambler, the charity’s director in England, added that blind and partially sighted people may not even know that their appointment has been affected, as the news has been communicated by letter rather than in Braille or electronic formats.
The Patients’ Association said the strikes put barriers in the way of patients who often found it difficult to get care. Julie Talon, the charity’s acting chief executive, said: “Patients must be able to get safe and effective care when they need it. The strike is putting up barriers to care, on top of the long waiting times that many patients are already experiencing. We are deeply concerned that the actions of junior doctors could impact on the safety of all patients on strike days. Bring in mediators if you need to, but please find a way to get out of this mess.”
