Junior doctors in England are set to go on strike for four days, with up to a quarter of a million appointments and operations expected to be postponed, the National Health Service Confederation has warned.
The latest strike action is part of a long-standing dispute between medics and the British government over pay.
The British Medical Association has urged the government to make a “credible offer” to avert the strike, which is due to start on Tuesday.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has been called on to meet union representatives over the Easter bank holiday weekend to try to resolve the issue. However, the Department of Health and Social Care has insisted that the BMA must first call off the strike for any negotiations to take place.
The NHS Confederation warned that the impact of the strikes could have significant implications for patient safety.
Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the Confederation, said that health bosses were “more concerned about this than they have been about any other strike”.
The Confederation anticipates that the disruption could last up to 11 days in total.
In the previous junior doctors’ strike, which lasted for three days, about 175,000 appointments and operations had to be postponed.
This time around, the Confederation believes that up to a quarter of a million appointments could be affected.
Dr McCay added that health leaders across the NHS anticipate that the action is likely to have an impact on patient safety.
The strike is part of a pay dispute, as junior doctors say they have lost more than 26 per cent of their pay in real terms over the past 15 years.
The BMA has called for a “fair deal” on pay to help address the NHS’s recruitment and retention challenges.
Dr Mike Greenhalgh, deputy co-chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee, has apologised to patients affected by the strikes, but stressed that their safety would not be put at risk.
The four-day walkout will take place between 6.59am on Tuesday and 6.59am on Saturday April 15, immediately after the Easter bank holiday weekend.
