Industrial action in the NHS

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The information resources below provide latest updates on industrial action in the NHS during 2022/2023/2024.

Patient messages

Link

Summary

Accessible content. Updated 6 June 2024.

Letters

Link

Summary

Accessible content. Published 22 July 2024.

Summary

Accessible content. Published 14 June 2024.

Summary

Accessible content. Published 19 February 2024.

Link

Summary

Accessible content. Published 12 January 2024.

Summary

Published 19 December 2023

Link

Summary

Published 20 July 2023.

Link

Summary

Published 12 July 2023.

Summary

A joint letter from Professor Philip Banfield, BMA Council Chair and Professor Steve Powis, National Medical Director, NHS England.

Published 13 June 2023.

Link

Summary

Letter from Mike Prentice, NHS England National Director for Emergency Planning and Incident Response, regarding junior doctors’ industrial action 14-17 June 2023; discussing approach, pre-action assurance, rescheduled activity, and workforce situation report (SitRep) data collections.

Published 2 June 2023.

Summary

Letter from Stephen Groves, Director of NHS Resilience, NHS England.

Published 21 April 2023.

Summary

A joint letter from Professor Philip Banfield, BMA Council Chair and Professor Steve Powis, National Medical Director, NHS England.

Published 6 April 2023.

Link

Summary

A joint letter from Prof Sir Stephen Powis and Sir David Sloman giving guidance on mitigating and managing the industrial action.

Published 31 March 2023.

Summary

This letter outlines the approach to pre-action assurance and to capturing workforce and activity impacts of industrial action by junior doctors [British Medical Association (BMA) and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA)], and by hospital dental trainees [British Dental Association (BDA)] from 6:59 am on the 13 March to 6:59 am on the 16 March.

Published 7 March 2023.

Link

Summary

Letter to integrated care boards and trusts regarding planning for industrial action by junior doctors.

Accessible web pages.

Published 27 February 2023.

Link

Summary

Letter to integrated care boards (ICBs) and trusts to confirm that the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will be asking its members in all NHS organisations for which it has a mandate, to participate in strike action from Wednesday 1 March to Friday 3 March 2023.

Published 16 February 2023.

Summary

Letter from Stephen Groves, Director of NHS Resilience, NHS England about two SitRep data collections on the Strategic Data Collection Service (SDCS) data collection tool.

Published 10 February 2023.

Summary

Letter from Stephen Groves, Director of NHS Resilience, NHS England about two SitRep data collections on the Strategic Data Collection Service (SDCS) data collection tool.

Published 1 February 2023.

Summary

Letter from Stephen Groves, Director of NHS Resilience, NHS England about two SitRep data collections on the SDCS data collection tool.

16 December 2022.

Link

Summary

Letter from Sir David Sloman, Dr Vin Diwakar and Dame Ruth May, regarding the industrial action due to take place during the week commencing 6 February 2023.

Published 27 January 2023.

Link

Summary

Letter from Sir David Sloman, Chief Operating Officer; Professor Sir Stephen Powis, National Medical Director and Dame Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer regarding the industrial action by ambulance services on 21 and 28 December 2022.

16 December 2022.

Summary

Letter to integrated care boards (ICBs), trusts, and regional directors regarding the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) industrial action that will be taking place on Thursday, 15 December and Tuesday, 20 December 2022.

This letter outlines the data collection NHS England will be conducting during the strikes.

9 December 2022.

Link

Summary

Letter to integrated care boards (ICBs), trusts, and regional directors regarding the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) industrial action that will be taking place on Thursday, 15 December and Tuesday, 20 December 2022.

28 November 2002.

Link

Summary

Update on being prepared for industrial action. Web accessible version.

22 November 2022.

Summary

Accessible version.

2 November 2022.

Data

Summary

This is data reported by NHS trusts on industrial action taken by junior doctors from the British Medical Association (BMA) and hospital dental trainees from the British Dental Association (BDA) . BMA junior doctors and BDA trainee dentists took action from 7am on Thursday 27 June to 7am on Tuesday 2 July. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and appointments as well as the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking industrial action.

Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts and not all trusts were able to supply data on workforce, nor community, mental health and learning disability rescheduled activity.

Published 5 July 2024.

Summary

This is data reported by NHS Trusts on industrial action taken by junior doctors from the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA). BMA junior doctors took action from 7am on Saturday 24 February to 11:59 on Wednesday 28 February. HCSA junior doctor members took action from 6:59am on Saturday 24 February until shifts starting after 7am on Thursday 29 February. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and appointments as well as the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking industrial action.

Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts and not all trusts were able to supply data on workforce, nor community, mental health and learning disability rescheduled activity.

Published 1 March 2024.

Summary

This is data reported by NHS trusts on industrial action taken by junior doctors from the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) from 7am on Wednesday 3 January until 7am on Tuesday 9 January 2024. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and appointments as well as the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking industrial action.

Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts and not all trusts were able to supply data on workforce, nor community, mental health and learning disability rescheduled activity.

Published 10 January 2024.

Summary

This is data reported by NHS Trusts on industrial action taken on industrial action taken by junior doctors from the British Medical Association (BMA) and hospital dental trainees from the British Dental Association (BDA) from 7am on Wednesday 20 December to 7am Saturday 23 December.

Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts and not all trusts were able to supply data on workforce, or community, mental health and learning disability rescheduled activity.

Published 27 December 2023.

Summary

This is data reported by NHS Trusts on industrial action taken by junior doctors and consultants from the British Medical Association (BMA), junior doctors from the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA), and consultants and dental trainees from the British Dental Association (BDA) from 7am on Monday 2 October until 7am on Thursday 5 October, as well as members of the Society of Radiographers (SoR) who also took strike action for 24 hours from 0800 on Tuesday 3 October to 8am on Wednesday 4 October. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts and not all trusts were able to supply data on workforce, or acute, community, mental health and learning disability rescheduled activity.

Published 6 October 2023.

Summary

This is data reported by NHS trusts on industrial action taken by members of the British Medical Association (BMA), Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA), and British Dental Association (BDA) junior doctors and consultants from 7am on Tuesday 19 September to 7am Saturday 23 September. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and appointments as well as the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking industrial action.

Please note this document has been updated on 26 September 2023 for the data on community service appointments only. The previous version did not capture all the submitters data so this has been updated to reflect this so that the total for community service rescheduled appointments is 996.

Updated 26 September 2023.

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where industrial action was taken by the British Medical Association (BMA) hospital Consultants and British Dental Association (BDA) consultants from 07:00 on Thursday 24 August to 07:00 Saturday 26 August. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and appointments as well as the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking industrial action. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts and not all trusts were able to supply data.

Published 29 August 2023.

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where industrial action was taken by the British Medical Association (BMA), Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) junior doctors, and British Dental Association (BDA) dental trainees from 07:00 on Friday 11 August to 07:00 Tuesday 15 August. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and appointments as well as the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking industrial action. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts and not all trusts were able to supply data on community rescheduled activity nor mental health and learning disability rescheduled.

Published 16 August 2023.

 

Summary

This is data reported by a number of NHS Trusts where industrial action was taken by members of the Society of Radiographers from 8.00am 25 July until 8.00am on Thursday 27 July. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and appointments as well as the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking industrial action. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts and not all trusts were able to supply data on workforce, or acute, community, mental health and learning disability rescheduled activity.

Published 28 July 2023.

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where industrial action was taken by the British Medical Association (BMA) consultants from 7:00am on Thursday 20 July to 7:00am Saturday 22 July. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and appointments as well as the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking industrial action. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts and not all trusts were able to supply data on community rescheduled activity nor mental health and learning disability rescheduled activity. Additionally, not all trusts were able to supply workforce data.

Please note this document has been updated on 26 July 2023. The previous version contained trust level data in the incorrect order meaning the numbers were not attributed to the correct trusts (all other data was unaffected). This has now been amended in the updated version.

Updated 26 July 2023.

Summary

This data was originally published on 19 July. These files have been republished (24 July 2023) to update with final reporting numbers. Please note this document has been updated on 26 July 2023. The previous version contained trust level data in the incorrect order meaning the numbers were not attributed to the correct trusts (all other data was unaffected). This has now been amended in the updated version.

This is data reported by trusts where industrial action was taken by the British Medical Association (BMA), Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) junior doctors, and British Dental Association (BDA) dental trainees from 07:00 on Thursday 13 July to 07:00 Tuesday 18 July. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and appointments as well as the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking industrial action. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts and not all trusts were able to supply data on community rescheduled activity nor mental health and learning disability rescheduled activity.

Update 26 July 2023.

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where industrial action was taken by members of the British Medical Association (BMA), Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) and British Dental Association (BDA) on 14, 15, 16 and 17 June. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and appointments as well as the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking industrial action. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts and significant numbers of trusts did not provide full workforce data.

Published 19 June 2023.

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where industrial action was taken by members of Unite on 9 May. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and hospital appointments as well as the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking action. For the rescheduled data, trusts either did not submit data or the numbers of rescheduled was zero, as stated. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where industrial action was taken by members of the Royal College of Nursing and Unite between 30 April and 3 May. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and hospital appointments as well as the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking action.

Following further reporting by 13 NHS trusts, our total number of staff absent from work as a result of industrial action has been updated to present a more complete picture. This is correct as of 31 May 2023.

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where industrial action was taken by members of the British Medical Association (BMA), Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) and dental trainees who are members of the British Dental Association (BDA) on 11,12, 13, 14 and 15 April. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and hospital appointments. The data also shows the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking action. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

Published 17 April 2023.

Summary

Data on industrial action by junior doctors who are members of The British Medical Association (BMA), The Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA), and Members of the British Dental Association (BDA) who are hospital dentists employed on a junior doctor contract. The data covers rescheduled  elective procedures and hospital appointments. The data also shows the number of staff reported as absent from work due to taking action.

Published 17 March 2023.

Summary

Data on industrial action by members of Unite at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust on 2 March. The data covers rescheduled  elective procedures and hospital appointments. The data also shows the number of staff reported as off work for the affected trusts.

Published 8 March 2023.

Summary

Data on industrial action by ambulance workers who are GMB members at seven ambulance trusts, ambulance workers who are members of Unite at two ambulance trusts, and GMB members from East Suffolk and North  Essex NHS Foundation Trust on 20 February, GMB members at West Midlands Ambulance Service on 17 February, and GMB members at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust on 13 February. The data covers rescheduled elective procedures and hospital appointments. The data also shows the number of staff reported as off work for the affected trusts.

Summary

This is data reported by ambulance trusts where industrial action by members of Unison took place on 10 February and data reported on rescheduled elective procedures and hospital appointments. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work for the affected trusts and data for the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

Note: These files have been republished (21/04/2023) to correct double-counting errors in the reschedule mental health and learning disability table (removing rescheduled appointments that were also reported in the reschedule community tab). The England level figures for mental health and learning disability rescheduled appointments were incorrect by the following amounts: 6 February – 850, 7 February – 876, 9 February – 1,524, 10 February – 148.

Summary

This is updated data reported by trusts where industrial action by members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy took place on 9 February. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work for the affected trusts and data for the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

Note: These files have been republished (21/04/2023) to correct double-counting errors in the reschedule mental health and learning disability table (removing rescheduled appointments that were also reported in the reschedule community tab). The England level figures for mental health and learning disability rescheduled appointments were incorrect by the following amounts: 6 February – 850, 7 February – 876, 9 February – 1,524, 10 February – 148.

Summary

This is updated data reported by trusts where industrial action by members of Unite/GMB and the Royal College of Nursing took place on 6 and 7 February. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work for the affected trusts and data for the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

Note: These files have been republished (21/04/2023) to correct double-counting errors in the reschedule mental health and learning disability table (removing rescheduled appointments that were also reported in the reschedule community tab). The England level figures for mental health and learning disability rescheduled appointments were incorrect by the following amounts: 6 February – 850, 7 February – 876, 9 February – 1,524, 10 February – 148.

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where industrial action by members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy took place on 9 February. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work for the affected trusts and data for the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

Summary

This is updated rescheduled data reported by trusts where industrial action by members of Unite/GMB and the Royal College of Nursing took place on 6 and 7 February. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work for the affected trusts and data for the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where industrial action by members of Unite/GMB and the Royal College of Nursing took place on 6 and 7 February and data reported on rescheduled elective procedures and hospital appointments. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work for the affected trusts and data for the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where industrial action by members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy took place on 26 January and data reported on rescheduled elective procedures and hospital appointments. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work for the 30 affected trusts and data for the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

Summary

This is data reported by ambulance trusts where industrial action took place on 23 and 24 January and data reported on rescheduled elective procedures and hospital appointments. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work due to industrial action and the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

NB: For the Workforce section please note: The data also shows the number of staff absent following the Unison industrial action in Liverpool on 23 January.

Link

Summary

Letter from Stephen Groves regarding industrial action by members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists union.

Published 25 January 2023.

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where Royal College of Nursing strike action took place on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 January 2023. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work due to industrial action and the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

Summary

Letter from Stephen Groves, Director of NHS Resilience, NHS England about two SitRep data collections on the SDCS data collection tool.

Summary

This is data reported by ambulance trusts and hospitals where industrial action took place on 11 January and data reported on rescheduled elective procedures and hospital appointments. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work due to industrial action and the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

NB: For the rescheduled data please note:

  • 12% – or 15 trusts – did not submit rescheduled activity data.

Summary

This is data reported by ambulance trusts and hospitals where industrial action took place on 21 December and data reported on rescheduled elective procedures and hospital appointments. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work due to industrial action and the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

NB: For the Rescheduled data please note:

  • 20% of trusts didn’t submit today (22/12/2022).
  • RCN affected organisations also submitted rescheduled data yesterday, and some of these trusts have only submitted additional rescheduled activity today, so some data already reported yesterday has been excluded.
  • The data we have collected is in respect of all industrial action this week, not just the ambulance strikes taking place yesterday.

Published 22 December 2022

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where Royal College of Nursing strike action took place on 20 December 2022. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work due to industrial action and the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

Published 21 December 2022.

Summary

This is data reported by trusts where Royal College of Nursing strike action took place on 15 December 2022. The data shows the number of staff reported as off work due to industrial action and the number of inpatient procedures and outpatient appointments, that were due to take place on the day, which required rescheduling. Please note this is provisional data as reported by the trusts.

Published 16 December 2022.