Junior doctors deemed ‘irresponsible and dangerous’ as they stage 11th strike with 5-day stoppage

This weekend’s doctors’ strike is irresponsible and dangerous, warns Health Secretary Victoria Atkins.

Junior doctors from the British Medical Association will be taking down tools from 7am today, Thursday, until 7am next Tuesday.

NHS chiefs have warned of “major disruption” and say patients will be at extra risk because of the heatwave.

Health Secretary Ms Atkins told The Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots that she is “very, very angry” at the BMA’s cynical decision to leave while ministers are unable to negotiate due to the election.

She said: “I don’t understand how the committee of junior doctors feel it is responsible to call strikes at this time when they know full well the harm it does to patients.

“It feels really wrong.”

Six weeks lost on strike

This weekend’s strike is the 11th by the junior doctors since March 2023 and will bring the total number of working days lost to 44.

More than 1.4 million appointments were canceled or postponed.

Experts say this is not the only reason the NHS backlog is stagnating, but it is slowing efforts to reduce waiting lists.

Ms Atkins said people are “dismayed” by the timing of the latest strike in the run-up to the general election.

She refused to consider political walkout, but has done so in the past, and added that the Labor Party would struggle to reach an agreement with junior doctors if they come to power next week.

The doctors’ demands in the dispute amount to a salary increase of 35% or more.

BMA keeps leaving the room

Victoria AtkinsSecretary of Health

The Health Secretary added: “It makes me laugh when Labor says they are going to get in the room with them.

“Well, I was in the room with them.

“They keep leaving.”

Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC’s World at One on Wednesday: “What we have said to the BMA very directly and honestly, this side of the election, is that 35 per cent is not a percent that the government could dispose of.

“That won’t change if there is a Labor government next Friday.

“We would be willing to negotiate the salaries and wider conditions that junior doctors suffer.”

Heat alert increases danger to the patient

NHS England chief medical officer Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: “This new round of strikes will again hit the NHS very hard.

“Hotter weather could put additional pressure on services at a time when demand is already high.”

Heat health warnings are in place across England this week, with temperatures reaching 30C in some areas.

Hot weather increases pressure on hospitals as people fall victim to dehydration and heat exhaustion, and face a greater risk of sudden heart, lung and kidney problems.

Although the weather will cool slightly over the next five days, NHS bosses say the damage has probably already been done.

The longer industrial action lasts, the more patients will suffer

Śiva AnandacivaThe King’s Fund

And concerns have been raised about the impact the strike will have on hospitals affected by a cyber attack earlier this month.

The BMA announced that some junior doctors would be allowed to continue working in hospitals in the capital to “avoid dangerous delays in cancer treatment”.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, it said: “To avoid dangerous delays in cancer treatment, we are granting a derogation for surgical registrars working on high-risk upper gastrointestinal, head and neck and lung cancers at three hospitals: Lewisham and Greenwich , Guys & St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital.

“This will help patients who have experienced dangerous delays in their care due to difficulties mitigating against unplanned and malicious cyberattacks.”

Siva Anandaciva, from think tank The King’s Fund, added: “The longer industrial action lasts, the longer patients will suffer.

“So far, official figures show that £1.7 billion has been spent on covering the disruption – this is money that could have been spent on other health challenges.”