Junior doctors in England are set to strike for five consecutive days in July — the longest walk-out in the public health service’s history.
And a strike from senior doctors — known as “consultants” in the U.K. — might follow, putting hospitals under serious pressure for another 48 hours.
Junior doctors — qualified physicians with up to 8 years’ experience — are planning to walk out from Jul1y 13 to July 18. Consultants may then strike on July 20 and 21.
Senior doctors are currently voting on whether or not to begin industrial action over pay they argue has fallen drastically in real terms. The ballot by the British Medical Association union will conclude Tuesday.
Staff from across the country’s public health sector have performed numerous strikes since late 2022. Nurses, ambulance staff, physiotherapists and others have all walked out over pay and working conditions.
Outside of healthcare, border staff, rail workers and postal staff have also walked out over the last year.
A major driver of this action is the country’s high rate of inflation, which has seen the cost of living rise significantly for many members of the public. Many unions argue that the mismatch between inflation and pay not only makes life harder for existing staff, but that it makes it harder to recruit and retain new employees.
The public healthcare workforce is already overstretched as it battles rising demand from an ageing population and major care backlogs that have increased over the pandemic. Unions argue that better pay is needed to maintain safe levels of staffing and shore up the workforce for the future.
Certain staff have agreed to new pay deals after negotiations with government. But many continue to strike.
This next junior doctor’s strike is likely to cause a significant number of cancelled and delayed appointments, as consultants and other staff pitch in to cover.
If consultants themselves strike next month, even more appointments will be cancelled, as their work can’t be covered by juniors. They will, however, continue to deliver emergency care.
It’s thought that more than 650,000 appointments have been cancelled since healthcare strikes began last year. The last junior doctors’ strike alone caused more than 100,000 of these.
Health industry experts have urged government ministers and union leaders to resolve the pay dispute as quickly as possible.
Matthew Taylor, who heads up industry group NHS Confederation, said in a statement that although hospitals had become “very much adept at coping with strikes,” the junior doctors’ strike was “still hugely disappointing news” that “will have an impact on patient care.”
Hospital leaders will have to rely on “the goodwill of consultants and other colleagues to provide cover” — and pay a premium for this care.
“One trust estimated the cost of April’s walkout to be around £500,000, so the cost of industrial action is stacking up,” Taylor said.
For the patients affected, he added, delays could mean complications further down the line.
“Unfortunately, our previous warnings that repeated industrial action must not become business as usual is starting to be the harsh reality leaders and the NHS must face,” Taylor said. “The parties involved have to open a proper dialogue again and find solutions to this standoff as soon as possible.”
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of another industry group, NHS Providers, echoed Taylor’s concerns that industrial action was becoming a normal part of day-to-day operations for the health service.
“Trust leaders’ priority throughout any industrial action will remain to keep patients safe and deliver high-quality care but this is getting tougher the longer strikes persist, and it’s getting more and more expensive to find cover for staff on picket lines,” he said.
“This can’t go on and become ‘business as usual’. We urge the government and unions to break the deadlock and enter arbitration to find a way to end disruptive strikes.”
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