NHS publishes data following junior doctors strike
Data on the recent industrial action by junior doctors can be found on the NHS England website here: NHS England » Industrial action in the NHS.
Since strikes began, the cumulative total of acute inpatient and outpatient appointments rescheduled is now 1,333,221.
Junior doctors and hospital dental trainees began their strike action on Wednesday 3 January at 7.00am and finished at 7.00am on Tuesday 9 January. Last week’s latest action saw 113,779 inpatient and outpatient appointments rescheduled, and 25,446 staff were absent from work due to strikes at the peak of the action (3 January).
NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: “The longest strike in NHS history has led to unprecedented disruption for patients and their families, and while staff have planned extensively and worked tirelessly to keep patients safe, it comes once again with an enormous cost.
“That cost is clear in these figures – likely to be even higher in reality – with more than 113,000 appointments postponed at a time when services are already under huge pressure from rising flu and covid cases and we are seeing a huge demand for care.
“Medical leaders and frontline staff are telling us they are very concerned about the coming weeks as the cold weather bites and more people may need hospitalisation. This puts an incredible strain on staff who have been covering striking colleagues as we continue to navigate one of the most difficult times of year.
“Colleagues across the NHS will now be doing everything they can to make up for lost time as we continue to make progress on addressing the elective backlog and ensure patients get the care they need.”