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Junior doctors in England will walk out for six days from Wednesday amid warnings that the NHS is grappling with “one of the most difficult starts to the year” it has “ever faced”.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England, said on Tuesday the health service was starting the year “on the back foot” as it contends with the longest strike in its history.
The walkout will have an impact on almost all routine care as consultants are asked to step in for their junior doctor colleagues, who make up about half of the medical workforce.
“This January could be one of the most difficult starts to the year the NHS has ever faced”, Powis said in a statement.
“Six consecutive days of industrial action comes at one of our busiest periods — the action will not only have an enormous impact on planned care, but comes on top of a host of seasonal pressures such as Covid, flu and staff absences due to sickness — all of which is impacting on how patients flow through hospitals.”
The wave of industrial action by health staff that started in December 2022 has compounded pressures on the NHS, with about 1.2mn operations and appointments cancelled since it began.
The latest strike will begin at 7am on January 3 and end at 7am on January 9, in a significant escalation of junior doctors’ battle for a 35 per cent pay rise.
“Our colleagues across the health service are doing their very best for patients every day with extensive preparations in place, but there’s no doubt they are starting 2024 on the back foot,” said Powis.
Health leaders have expressed concern about the effect of another stoppage on the service as it responds to additional strain brought on by winter.
A three-day strike last month by junior doctors is estimated to have led to the rescheduling of 86,000 appointments.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents health managers, said the next few days were going to be “very damaging” to the service.
“Unfortunately, it feels like there is a stand-off, which is the government is refusing to enter negotiations unless the junior doctors call off the strike action, and the junior doctors are refusing to call off strike action unless the government commits to investing more money — and that is a pity”, he told the BBC on Monday.
The Department of Health and Social Care said: “We urge the BMA junior doctors committee to call off their strikes and come back to the negotiating table so we can find a fair and reasonable solution.
“NHS staff are working hard to prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care, maternity and trauma, and to ensure we prioritise patients who have waited the longest for elective care and cancer surgery.”
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