NHS bosses are warning London hospitals are under “extraordinary pressure” due to a “high volume of sick people” as junior doctors began their 26th day of strike action.
Members of the British Medical Association began a 72-hour walkout from 7am on Wednesday in hospitals across England in a bitter dispute over pay.
Hospital bosses in the capital say the strikes came at “the worst possible time” with rising demand for emergency services during the festive period and a spike in seasonal viruses, such as flu and norovirus - coupled with fallout from revellers overdoing the boozing during party season.
More than 1.1 million appointments have already been cancelled in the past year due to industrial action in the NHS.
Junior doctors are demanding a 35 per cent pay rise to correct a real-terms fall in income since 2008.
Casualty departments in London hospitals, notably in the capital's south-east, were already “extremely busy” before the beginning of industrial action - and NHS bosses warn, pressure expected to rise during the walkout.
The strike will end at 7am on December 23, but will be followed by another six-day walkout beginning on January 3 - the longest in NHS history.
The BMA announced the strike earlier this month after talks between junior doctors and the Government broke down.
Consultant doctors from the BMA in England have reached a deal with the Government, with members currently voting whether or not to accept the deal.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins urged the BMA to call off the strikes and resume talks, saying the door remains open to negotiations.
But Dr Vivek Trivedi, who’s co-chair of the BMA junior doctors committee, told the Daily Mail that to break the impasse, the Government must ‘recognise and value doctors and not inflict a real-terms pay cut”.
While Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, says the strike could further jeopardise efforts to bring down NHS waiting lists, one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s key five pledges.
The Standard has the latest from health reporter Daniel Keane.
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