A four-day strike by junior doctors begins this weekend over an ongoing pay dispute with the government.  

More than one in every ten days has been hit by strike action in the last year and this latest walk-out again comes at a challenging time for NHS staff as they work hard to meet the surge in demand that the winter period brings.  

Doctors will strike from 7am on Saturday 24 February through to midnight on Wednesday 28 February in the latest round of junior doctor strikes which swiftly follows the previous action last month. 

The NHS has been preparing extensively for winter, with robust measures in place to manage demand – including more beds, new ambulances and a wide range of measures such as care traffic control centres, virtual wards, urgent community response teams and same day emergency care.

Despite this preparation, the fact that one in every 10 days has been affected is having a significant impact on ongoing efforts to tackle the backlog in elective care across the capital.

The number of appointments in London rescheduled due to the strikes which began in December 2022 now stands at nearly 400,000. 

Over the previous industrial action period, a six-day strike from 3-9 January,  nearly 40,000 appointments were rescheduled in London. More than 4,600 staff were on strike on the first day of industrial action. 

Junior doctors make up around 50 per cent of doctors in the NHS and, despite extensive planning and cover arrangements in place, the latest strikes by junior doctors are again expected to cause significant widespread disruption.  

Top NHS doctors in London are keen to stress that emergency care continues to be prioritised during the industrial action and people should still call 999 in life-threatening emergencies and contact NHS 111 for other health concerns, as well as local services including GPs and pharmacies.  

Dr Chris Streather, Regional Medical Director, NHS London said:  

“Across London, nearly 400,000 appointments have been rescheduled over more than a year due to strikes and we continue to see the impact on NHS services and our hard-working staff as they maintain safe and effective patient services while tackling a record backlog.

“This time of year is always very busy for the NHS and a number of strikes in quick succession has had a significant cumulative impact – but we’ve been planning extensively to ensure that people can still access care when they need it. It’s important that people continue to use 999 and A&E in life-threatening emergencies.  

“For everything else people should contact NHS 111 online, as well use local services like GPs and pharmacies for advice and care. If you haven’t been contacted or informed that your planned appointment has been postponed, please attend as normal.” 

People should still come forward to access the care they need in the usual way – in a life-threatening emergency, call 999 and use emergency departments. For everything else, use 111 online. Pharmacies and GPs are unaffected by the strikes so patients can still get appointments and health advice.   

Notes to editors: 

The junior doctor strike in December led to the rescheduling of more than 25,000 acute appointments and procedures across NHS London

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