Streeting Vows To Keep Disruption To A Minimum As Doctor Strike Begins

Health Secretary Wes Streeting is promising to support NHS services moving arsenic a five-day walkout by resident doctors gets underway successful England.

He said nan disruption would beryllium kept to a minimum aft NHS England ordered hospitals to only cancel treatments successful exceptional circumstances.

In erstwhile strikes, nan attraction has been connected staffing emergency attraction but this clip nan NHS is striving to support non-urgent services running. Senior doctors are covering resident doctors - nan caller word for inferior doctors who are striking - for nan 12th clip successful nan salary dispute.

The British Medical Association warned that this risks stretching unit excessively thinly, saying ministers had each opportunity to extremity nan walkout.

Writing successful nan Times up of nan strike, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urged resident doctors not to travel their national down nan "damaging road" of onslaught action.

Despite nan efforts being put successful by NHS leaders, he said nan walkout would origin a "huge nonaccomplishment for nan NHS and nan country," arsenic he criticised nan British Medical Association (BMA) for "rushing" into strikes.

Sir Keir said nan walkouts threatened "to move backmost nan timepiece connected advancement we person made successful rebuilding nan NHS complete nan past year".

Streeting said: "There is nary getting astir nan truth that these strikes will deed nan advancement we are making connected turning nan NHS round."

But he added: "I americium wished to support disruption to patients to a minimum."

Members of nan nationalist person been urged to travel guardant for NHS attraction during nan walkout, and are being asked to be appointments unless told they are cancelled.

GP surgeries will unfastened arsenic usual, and urgent attraction and A&E will proceed to beryllium available, alongside NHS 111, NHS England said.

The onslaught is going up aft talks betwixt nan authorities and BMA collapsed down connected Tuesday.

Those talks were focused connected non-pay issues, specified arsenic nan costs of exam fees and profession progression, aft Streeting had said salary was not unfastened to negotiation.

The BMA says, contempt a 5.4% mean salary emergence this twelvemonth pursuing a 22% summation complete nan erstwhile 2 years, salary is still down by a 5th since 2008, erstwhile ostentation is taken into account.

During their first instauration twelvemonth aft finishing their aesculapian grade resident doctors successful England now earn a basal net of £38,831, for an mean of 48 hours worked per week. In nan 2nd year, this rises to £44,439. By nan extremity of training salaries transcend £73,000.

Medics are often expected to activity nightshifts, weekends and longer hours for other payments. On mean these apical up their net by much than a quarter.

BMA resident expert co-leaders Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: "Resident doctors are not worthy little than they were 17 years ago.

"Restoring salary remains nan simplest and astir effective way toward improving our moving lives.

"Mr Streeting had each opportunity to forestall this onslaught going ahead, but he chose not to return it."

Previous walkouts person led to wide cancellations, pinch much than 1 cardinal appointments and treatments cancelled during resident expert strikes which first began successful March 2023.

Some hospitals were only capable to present half their normal magnitude of regular attraction connected onslaught days.

But NHS sources said, this time, immoderate hospitals were readying afloat schedules aft nan caller attack of prioritising some emergency and non-urgent care.

"We've learnt lessons from nan past strikes - this 1 will consciousness very different," they added.

Prof Meghana Pandit, a head astatine NHS England, said: "It's really important to trim cancellations, because group person been waiting, sometimes for months for their regular hep replacement aliases hysterectomy aliases immoderate appointment, and really rescheduling nan appointments impacts connected them and leads to beingness and psychological harm."

But she said it was inevitable location would still beryllium immoderate disruption, nevertheless she warned patients to still usage nan NHS if they request it.

While nan mostly of resident doctors activity successful hospitals, immoderate GP practices and organization services could besides beryllium affected. Resident doctors correspond astir half nan aesculapian workforce.

One of those who has been impacted is Hassnain Shahid, 32, from Bradford, whose three-year-old girl has had her lung room connected Monday cancelled.

She has a uncommon lung information which intends that if she catches a cough aliases acold she could beryllium astatine superior risk.

"It's been an affectional rollercoaster. It's very frustrating," said Hassnain.

The BMA, though, has warned nan caller attack could origin moreover greater problems and consequence safety.

It has written to NHS England to opportunity that unit who are moving could beryllium stretched excessively thinly. The national said it would beryllium amended to importantly trim non-urgent attraction arsenic has happened previously.

But Saffron Cordery, lawman main executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, said while hospitals were going to beryllium trying to support services moving this would beryllium done wrong "rigorous information guidelines".

She said nan business was analyzable by nan truth that doctors were not obliged to opportunity whether they would beryllium turning up aliases not.

"Nobody will cognize until they really move up for their shifts aliases not."

Around 2 thirds of resident doctors are BMA members.

Conservative protector wellness caput Stuart Andrew said nan strikes threatened to resistance hospitals into chaos and time off patients "dangerously exposed".

"Labour's spineless surrender to national demands past twelvemonth opened nan doorway to this.

"They handed retired inflation-busing salary rises without betterment and now nan BMA is backmost for more."

But Rory Deighton, of nan NHS Confederation, which represents frontline wellness managers, said: "The effect of these strikes and nan distress they will origin patients rests pinch nan BMA."