Addenbrooke’s boss warns of ‘enormous’ disruption as junior doctors and consultants plan unprecedented joint strike

Unprecedented disruption is expected to NHS services this week as junior doctors and consultants go on strike - including, for the first time, on the same day.

It comes after leaders at Cambridge University Hospitals warned of “enormous” disruption to NHS services from 10 months of strikes, with thousands of operations delayed.

This week, NHS leaders in Cambridgeshire warned patients need to use NHS services “wisely”, but stressed that those needing “urgent medical care” should “come forward as normal, particularly in an emergency or life-threatening situations”.

Consultants in England will walk out for 48 hours from Tuesday, and will be joined by their junior colleagues on Wednesday.

Junior doctors will then continue their strike on Thursday and Friday.

Both consultants and junior doctors will then strike together on October 2, 3 and 4.

Those dates coincide with the Conservative Party annual conference in Manchester.

Staff are expected to work on a “Christmas Day cover” basis for both spells of industrial action, meaning emergency care will continue to be provided.

Dr Fiona Head, chief medical officer at NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, said: “During this week’s industrial action, it’s crucial that NHS services are used wisely, so if you’ve not been informed that your planned appointment has been cancelled, then please attend as normal.

“While there’s likely to be disruption to NHS services during what is the tenth month of industrial action, it’s important that those who need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, particularly in an emergency or life-threatening situations. In which case, please dial 999.

“Other NHS services are still available for you and your loved ones, and if need medical help or advice, or are unsure if you should go to hospital, then please visit NHS 111 online first.”

Meanwhile Dr Ashley Shaw, medical director at Cambridge University Hospitals, which runs Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals, told a meeting that for every strike day the hospital lost 1,000 outpatient appointments, and said there were delays to making diagnoses.

He also said up until the end of July there had been around 570 planned operations lost, as well as 2,000 day case operations.

Dr Shaw said: “Large numbers of patients have delays to care as a consequence of it and I think that major implication concerns us from a patient perspective.

“Finances are being addressed separately, but strikes also have an impact on staff morale, not just doctors, but probably more so in more medical staff having to do extra stuff to cover and to cancel and rebook appointments etc.

“It also stifles progressive work to make the hospital a better place for patients. We are stuck in a cycle of planning for strikes, executing strikes, debriefing, and then planning for the next one.

“It is a difficult spot for most people at the moment and undoubtedly it is having a very large impact on a lot of patients.”

CUH chief executive Roland Sinker described the impact of ongoing industrial action as “enormous” and did not think the public was “adequately aware” of the “seriousness of prolonged industrial action”.

He said the trust had a “strong team”, but said relationships between professional groups were “starting to fray” and that this would “take a long time to repair”.

NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis warned the health service had “never seen this kind of industrial action in its history”.

He added: “This week’s first ever joint action means almost all planned care will come to a stop and hundreds of thousands of appointments will be postponed, which is incredibly difficult for patients and their families, and poses an enormous challenge for colleagues across the NHS.”

He said people should still call 999 and use A&E as normal in emergency situations.

Rishi Sunak began his premiership pledging to cut waiting lists, but ministers’ failure to resolve the dispute with junior medics and consultants has cast doubt on whether that promise can be achieved.

Figures released earlier this month showed the NHS waiting list in England reached a new record high with 7.7 million people – around one in seven – waiting for treatment.

Deputy chief executive of NHS Providers Saffron Cordery warned that strikes cannot become a new normal, hitting out at the lack of “meaningful dialogue” between the Government and medics.

She warned it is “likely to cause disruption to patient care unlike anything we’ve seen before”.

Ms Cordery added: “We need this dispute to be resolved, and fast, but there is a deep and growing frustration among trust leaders at the sheer lack of action to even start to break this deadlock. We cannot allow strikes to become business as usual for the NHS.

“With no end in sight, trust leaders are once again urging the government and trade unions to sit down and talk so that everyone’s focus can get back to the real priority: providing safe, high-quality, and timely care for patients.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We’ve already seen 900,000 appointments cancelled as a result of strikes and the co-ordinated action will create further disruption for patients and fellow NHS staff.

“We accepted the independent pay review body’s recommendations in full, meaning doctors who started their hospital training this year are receiving a 10.3 per cent pay increase, with the average junior doctor getting 8.8 per cent. Consultants are receiving a 6 per cent pay rise and are already in the top 2 per cent of earners in the country.

“This pay award is final and the Health and Social Care Secretary is clear his door is open to discuss non pay issues if the BMA call an end to this damaging disruption.”

Additional reporting: Hannah Brown, Local Democracy Reporter