'Take precautions': Consultant strike to 'hit almost all routine NHS care'
Consultants are on strike for 48 hours and bosses have warned patients to expect significant disruption, as ITV News' Lucy Watson reports
People in England are being urged to take precautions for the next 48-hours, with the latest NHS consultants strike expected to hit almost all routine care.
Consultants are walking out on Thursday and Friday this week, with their union the British Medical Association (BMA) stuck in a deadlock with ministers over pay.
A further three day strike has been announced for later this year if an agreement cannot be reached, with walkouts on October 2, 3 and 4 coming on top of planned industrial action on September 19 and 20.
Strikes by consultants are the most damaging for the NHS because they are the only group in the health service for which other clinicians cannot provide temporary cover.
NHS England has warned patients they will face "severe delays" for the next two days, with strikes by thousands of senior doctors to bring "almost all routine care to a standstill".
Concerns have also been raised about the timing of the strike - just before the bank holiday weekend - which could put many services out of action for five days.
NHS national medical director for secondary care Dr Vin Diwakar said: “This latest action will again hit the NHS hard, with almost all routine care being affected.
“It also comes at a time when many staff are taking annual leave, so teams are already stretched, and some parts of the country have seen warm weather this week, which usually leads to an additional rise in demand for services, so we would ask people to take the usual precautions."
Consultants will still provide "Christmas Day cover" during the strikes, which means emergency care will be provided and people are being encouraged to use 999 and 111 as normal.
The latest NHS strikes, carried out by junior doctors over five days last week, saw 61,200 hospital appointments postponed, meaning there have been 839,327 cancellations over eight months of industrial action.
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay urged the BMA to call off the strikes, insisting the latest pay offer "is final".
Health Secretary Steve Barclay urges consultants to cancel their strikes
The government has insisted talks on pay are over after it said consultants would receive a 6% rise.
The BMA has condemned the increase as “insulting”, claiming consultants have experienced a “35% pay erosion” over the last 14 years.Dr Vishal Sharma, the BMA consultants committee chairman, said: "No consultant wants to be striking and we head out to picket lines today with heavy hearts.
"We would much rather be inside the hospital seeing our patients. But we cannot sit by and watch passively as we are persistently devalued, undermined and forced to watch colleagues leave - much to the detriment of the NHS and patients.
"By refusing to talk to us - and it's now been 150 days since the health secretary met with us - it just shows that the government is not serious about the NHS, its workforce or patients.
"Our message to the prime minister is that we are serious about protecting the consultant workforce and thereby the NHS and patients.
"We are striking today, and will do so again in September and October, but the prime minister has the power to avert any further action at all, by getting around the table and presenting us with a credible offer.
"Consultants are clear that they're prepared to take regular action and politicians must be left in no doubt that our dispute will not go away simply because they refuse to negotiate. We will not be ignored."
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'Grim milestone' fast approaching
Health experts have warned that the "grim milestone" of one million postponed appointments is on the horizon.
The number of inpatient and outpatient hospital appointments cancelled in England since the current spell of industrial action began in the NHS in December 2022 now stands at 839,327.
If the community and mental health figures are included, the total rises to nearly 900,000 - though this will not reflect the overall number of actual cancellations, due to some duplication of data.
Mr Barclay said: "I am concerned and disappointed that the BMA has gone ahead with this industrial action, which will continue to affect patients and hamper efforts to cut NHS waiting lists.
"I'm aware some consultants cut short their annual leave over the most recent periods of industrial action by the BMA Junior Doctors Committee and I am incredibly grateful to those staff who came forward to help protect patients and services.
"We have accepted the independent pay review body recommendations in full, giving consultants a 6% pay rise, which means average NHS earnings for consultants of £134,000, on top of a pension where generous tax changes mean a consultant can retire at age 65 with a pension each year for life of £78,000 a year. This pay award is final and I urge the BMA to call an end to strikes."
When else are consultants striking?
Tuesday, September 19
Wednesday, September 20
Monday, October 2
Tuesday, October 3
Wednesday, October 4
Wes Streeting, Labour's shadow health secretary, said: "The Conservatives have given up any attempt to solve strikes in the NHS.
"Rishi Sunak refuses to speak to doctors and instead shamelessly uses them as an excuse for his failure to cut waiting lists.
"Patients don't want excuses, they want action. If the Conservatives have given up on governing, they should step aside and let Labour clean up their mess.
"There were no national NHS strikes when Labour was last in office. We need a government that will treat NHS staff with respect, open its door for talks, and bring these strikes to an end."
What should you do in case of an emergency?
People should continue to use 999 for life threatening emergencies and NHS 111 for other health concerns, officials said. GP and pharmacies are largely unaffected.
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, added: "A two-day strike by senior doctors just before a bank holiday weekend and when many staff are on well-deserved summer holidays is a massive headache for the NHS.
"Trust leaders have once again put plans in place for cover and to minimise disruption as far as possible. But that gets harder and more expensive with every strike.
"Official figures show more than 897,000 routine procedures and appointments have been delayed due to strikes across the NHS since December.
"The true figure, including appointments that weren't booked in because of industrial action, is likely to be significantly higher. And strikes have cost the NHS an estimated £1 billion."
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