NHS England has published data following the latest and longest period of strike action which ended earlier this week.

Junior doctors and hospital dental trainees began their strike action at 7.00am on Wednesday 3 January until 7.00am on Tuesday 9 January 2024. It comes on the back of previous strike action just days prior to Christmas.

This latest period of strike action was the longest continuous period of junior doctor industrial action to date, and occurred at a time of year that is traditionally very busy.

It has resulted in 14,800 inpatient and outpatient appointments needing to be re-scheduled in the South East of England. A total of 14,529 junior doctors were absent from work, with the peak of action occurring on 03 January which was the first day of the strikes.

Nationally, a total of 25,446 staff were reported absent from work and 113,779 inpatient and outpatient appointments have been rescheduled.

Since the first period of industrial action in December 2022, the cumulative total of acute inpatient and outpatient appointments rescheduled in the South East is over 165,000. Nationally the total is over 1.3 million.

Vaughan Lewis, Medical Director for NHS England in the South East, said: “NHS England recognises the extraordinary dedication and hard work of staff who have planned extensively and worked tirelessly to ensure patient safety is maintained during this latest period of strike action – the longest in NHS history, resulting in significant disruption for patients and their families.”

“The action has again come at an enormous cost which is clear from the figures released – likely to be even higher in reality – with more than 14,500 appointments postponed at a time when our services are already under huge pressure due to winter viruses cold weather, and the ongoing efforts of the NHS to recover from the backlogs of care that built up during the covid pandemic.”

He added: “I would like to thank everyone for their continued support in what remains a very challenging time for the NHS.”

NHS Medical leaders and frontline staff are concerned about the coming weeks as the cold weather bites and more people may need hospitalisation, putting an incredible strain on staff who have been covering striking colleagues as the NHS continues to navigate one of the most difficult times of year.

People should attend A&E and call 999 in life-threatening emergencies only and use 111 online for other health needs.