Thousands of junior doctors in England go on strike today as 72-hour walkout commences - while NHS bosses warn of 'significant' disruption including cancelled operations

A 72-hour strike by thousands of junior doctors has begun, and NHS leaders have warned that it could'significantly impair' this week's healthcare in the UK.

The three-day strike, which begins at 7 a.m. on Wednesday and ends at 7 a.m. on Saturday, is expected to cause the cancellation of tens of thousands of appointments and procedures.

The second strike this year will be led by junior doctors, including those with up to eight years of experience as hospital doctors and three as general practitioners.

NHS bosses warned the strike could cause 'significant disruption' as the heatwave hitting Britain is set to drive a surge in patients seeking emergency care.

Healthcare chiefs said the strikes could also hinder efforts to tackle the NHS backlog that has built up significantly since Covid-19.

NHS England's national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, earlier this week said almost all routine or pre-planned care could be impacted in some way by the latest strike.

There have also been concerns about staffing, with some consultants saying they would not provide strike cover unless their employers agreed to a higher overtime rate.

A similar walkout by junior doctors in April saw 196,000 hospital appointments and pre-planned operations rescheduled.

The walkout comes as the British Medical Association is calling for 'full restoration' of junior doctor's pay, which it says has fallen by 26 per cent since 2008/09, once inflation is factored in.

It says the Government has thus far only offered to hike junior doctor's pay by 5 per cent in their efforts to end the dispute.

A BMA poll of 1,935 junior doctors shows more than half (53 per cent) are now considering leaving the NHS due to the government's approach to the strikes.

At the same time, more than two thirds (67 per cent) do not think the NHS in its current form will exist in 10 years, while 88 per cent expect the NHS to get worse over the next 18 months.

Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairmen of the BMA Junior Doctors' Committee, said in a statement: 'Junior doctors are in despair at this Government's refusal to listen.

'It should never have taken two whole rounds of strike action to even put a number on the table, and for that number to be a 5% pay offer - in a year of double-digit inflation, itself another pay cut - beggars belief.

'We have made clear that junior doctors are looking for the full restoration of our pay, which has seen a 26% cut.

'Junior doctors in England have seen their pay cut in real terms by more than a quarter over the last 15 years. Today they are demonstrating what that means to the survival of the NHS.'

BMA chairman of council, Professor Philip Banfield, has written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urging him to intervene to resolve the dispute.

'No doctor wants to strike,' he said in the letter to the Prime Minister. 'They have been forced to do so to try and get your government to listen and understand the realities of how desperate things have become on the frontline of the NHS.'

'I urge you to listen to our doctors and to meet with me and our Junior Doctors' Committee as soon as possible to find a way forward in this dispute.'

Wellbeing and Social Consideration Secretary Steve Barclay said it was 'incredibly disheartening' the BMA was proceeding further strike activity.

He said: 'This 72-hour walkout will invest patient wellbeing and our amounts of energy to cut holding up records in danger.

'During ongoing gatherings with delegates of the BMA Junior Specialists' Council, we made a fair and sensible opening proposition and were examining both compensation and non-pay issues until they decided to end the discussions by reporting new strike dates.

'On the off chance that the BMA drops these harming and problematic strikes and shows eagerness to move essentially from their situation, we can continue classified talks and track down a way forward, as we have finished with different associations.'

Specialists will join picket lines outside their medical clinics on Wednesday and the BMA is likewise holding rallies all through the remainder of the week, remembering for Oxford, Birmingham, London and Manchester.

Rory Deighton, overseer of the intense organization at the NHS Confederation, told the Dad news organization he was worried about the effect of the strike.

'The NHS has become used to dealing with the disturbance brought about by modern activity so patients ought to feel guaranteed their nearby administrations are giving their best for focus on those with the best clinical need and offer safe types of assistance for patients,' he said.

'In any case, each flood of strikes works on the NHS's strength, affecting on staff, inner connections and their capacity to follow through on government vows to lessen the elective build-up.

NHS bosses said the strike could cause huge disturbance as the heatwave is set to drive an increase in patients utilizing crisis administrations
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NHS bosses said the strike could cause huge disturbance as the heatwave is set to drive an increase in patients utilizing crisis administrations

'A specific test this time will get the degree of expert cover for missing junior specialists because of progressing nearby talks on the extra time installments.

'Actually, this implies that it is as yet unsure precisely the number of arranged methodology and arrangements that should be downsized and rescheduled.

'The public exhortation stays that patients ought to expect their consideration will proceed unaffected except if told in any case.

'With the BMA having declared its expectation to re-polling form its individuals for a command for a further a half year of hits and with modern activity from experts, radiographers and medical caretakers a chance, the transient standpoint feels bleak.

'A goal is frantically required and we ask the Public authority to look for a goal to this debate.'

Talking on Wednesday, NHS Britain's clinical chief Teacher Powis said: 'The NHS is confronting critical interruption this week with a three-day strike that is set to be exacerbated by the continuous sweltering climate - with the quantity of individuals looking for crisis care expanding as temperatures climb.

'While large number of arrangements are probably going to be rescheduled because of strike activity, the NHS will keep on focusing on pressing and crisis care, yet with the country amidst a heatwave, general society can have their impact by being reasonable in the warm climate.

'For the helpless and old, this incorporates drinking a lot of water, utilizing sunscreen and keeping away from delayed periods in the sun or swimming in hazardous water - and kindly do likewise consider monitoring any weak companions,
relatives or neighbors who might battle with the intensity and moistness.

'Individuals with conditions, for example, asthma ought to keep on utilizing their inhalers.'

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