National Health Service consultants and junior doctors are holding their first joint strike, reducing staff to Christmas Day levels.
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British Medical Association members are walking out at NHS hospitals across England from September 19 to 20 in what has been described as an “awful scenario†by a health leader.
Hospitals have put in place Christmas Day-style rotas, meaning emergencies are prioritised but most routine work needs to be stopped.
The strike is said to pose the “biggest challenge†yet to NHS trusts up and down the country, forcing thousands of operations and appointments to be rescheduled.
As well as being on strike on Wednesday, junior doctors will continue to strike on Thursday and Friday this week. Further joint strikes by consultants and junior doctors are planned for October 2, 3 and 4.
NHS England said that the collective effect of the strikes “cannot be overestimatedâ€.
“The NHS is set to experience the equivalent of five 'Christmas Days' in the next three weeks, where many routine services and appointments may not be delivered,†said NHS England's national medical director Prof Sir Stephen Powis.
“While colleagues are working hard to ensure we keep patients safe and prioritise emergency and critical care, the collective impact of this on patients and staff cannot be overestimated.
“The level of ongoing disruption to services caused by many thousands of rescheduled appointments is an enormous challenge, and we're very grateful to the public for using the NHS wisely during this unprecedented period.â€
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS organisations, said consultants and junior doctors walking out together is “the awful scenario health leaders have long fearedâ€.
“Leaders will have pulled every lever available to them to mitigate the impact of this strike, but it is inevitable that patient safety is compromised, and we believe that the level of risk is the highest we've seen for a long time.
“We suspect that, despite our members preparing thoroughly in advance, we may see more than 100,000 operations and appointments cancelled this time around, taking the total to well over a million." ■