Doctors go on strike as we speak: Patients warned to brace for delays as five-day walkout begins with 70,000 appointments cancelled – as tremendous flu ravages the UK

Resident doctors have begun a five day walkout this morning which could see as many as 70,000 operations and appointments cancelled in just one week. 

Thousands of patients are being warned of disruption as up to half of the medical workforce in England could stop working as the strike over pay and jobs began at 7am on Wednesday.

Health leaders warned more patients are ‘likely to feel the impact’ of the strike action this time around as it coincides with a record super flu outbreak and staff holidays.

It means many will be forced to endure Christmas and New Year in prolonged agony, with no guarantee of when their treatment may be rescheduled.

Meanwhile, those already in hospital or admitted in the coming days may face such significant discharge delays that they fail to make it home in time for the festive celebrations.

It comes amid warnings of a ‘super flu’ sweeping the nation, with the health service currently facing a ‘worst case scenario’ amid a record number of flu cases for this time of year. 

Hopes that the strike could be averted at the last minute were dashed on Monday when members of the British Medical Association (BMA) rejected a fresh offer from the Government.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting accused the striking doctors of ‘abandoning patients in their hour of greatest need’, adding that their failure to accept a new deal showed a ‘shocking disregard for patient safety’. 

Ministers have also accused the union of staging the strike at a time that would ‘inflict as much damage as they can’ on the NHS amid rising levels of flu in hospitals. 

Health minister Stephen Kinnock yesterday accused the British Medical Association of timing the industrial action to ‘inflict as much damage as they can’ on the NHS.

And Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, warned elderly Britons will be ‘hit harder than most’.

She said: ‘The postponement of a minor operation or a clinic appointment with a consultant to discuss test results and next steps may look ‘non-urgent’ on paper, but that’s not how it will feel to an older person who is anxious and in pain, who has already waited months and who does not have time on their side.’

Thousands of medics – formerly known as junior doctors – will walk out from 7am today until 7am Monday in pursuit of a 26 per cent pay rise.

Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England’s national medical director, said: ‘These strikes come at an immensely challenging time for the NHS, with record numbers of patients in hospital with flu for this time of year.

‘Staff will come together as they always do, going above and beyond to provide safe care for patients and limit disruption, but sadly more patients are likely to feel the impact of this round of strikes than in the previous two – and staff who are covering will not get the Christmas break they deserve with their families.

‘It is vital that the public continue to come forward for their appointments over the next few days unless they are contacted by the NHS and told otherwise – but inevitably some appointments will have to be rescheduled.

‘It’s really important the public play their part by coming forward for care in the usual way – by dialling 999 in an emergency and otherwise using 111 online, your local pharmacist or GP.’

NHS England said that during the walkout fewer doctors will be working compared to usual, so people with non-urgent concerns may need to wait longer as urgent cases are prioritised.

Meanwhile, NHS leaders issued an ‘urgent plea’ for people to get vaccinated against flu.

Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England, said: ‘The last thing anyone wants is for them or their loved ones to be unwell or hospitalised over the festive season, so if you don’t want your new year ruined – this is your last chance to get vaccinated in time.

‘This is an urgent plea from the NHS – please come forward for your flu jab now and get protected.’

BMA resident doctor members voted by 83% to 17% to carry on with strike action after the Government put forward a fresh offer last week. 

Today’s strike will be the 14th by resident doctors since 2023, and comes just over a month since the last five day walkout, which ended on November 19. 

They are demanding a further 26 per cent pay rise on top of the 28.9 per cent already received over the past three years. 

Resident doctors make up about half the medical workforce in the NHS and have up to eight years experience working as a hospital doctor or three years as a GP. 

In a statement as the strike was set to begin, Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the resident doctors committee at the BMA, said the latest walk-out was the result of ‘hurried, last-minute offers’ from the Government.

He said: ‘It is well past the time for ministers to come up with a genuinely long-term plan. If they can simply provide a clear route to responsibly raise pay over a number of years, and enough genuinely new jobs instead of recycled ones, then there need not be any more strikes for the remainder of this Government.

‘These strikes are the consequence of hurried, last-minute offers. This way of working is in no one’s interest. If we can sit down to come up with a considered, collaborative roadmap towards the restoration of the NHS workforce, then everyone can come out ahead.

‘If the Government keeps up the pattern of denial, harsh words and rushed half-measures, then we are going to be stuck in the cycle of strikes well into the New Year. We have just had a year of denial from the Government. But the New Year can be far better if we just set our sights on a lasting deal.’

Meanwhile, BMA Council Deputy Chair Dr Emma Runswick said this morning: ‘This dispute is about jobs and pay. We have an absurd situation where we have doctors who are unemployed, fully qualified doctors, who want to be specialists in emergency medicine, in general practice, being turned away from jobs because the government is not willing to provide the funding for them to progress.

‘The offer on jobs was to cannibalise 4,000 jobs that already exist and turn those into training posts, resulting in no additional doctors seeing patients on wards or in GP surgeries.

‘We don’t think that is good enough on jobs, and our members don’t think so either. And there is also been no movement on pay where we are seeking to reverse pay cuts we have received over the last 15 or 17 years.

‘We have gone part of the way with this government last year. We were promised an ongoing journey that we wanted to see more on. But unfortunately, Streeting is not willing to solve either of those problems to get doctors back to earning 20 pounds an hour.

‘All we are looking to do is to get people into jobs to look after patients and to reverse pay cuts. We need both jobs and pay to solve our retention crisis, to stop doctors leaving and to give patients the care that they deserve.’

On 21 per cent of the workforce being foreign-born, she added : ‘We should prioritise those who we have trained or those with significant UK and NHS experience for ongoing progression in the NHS.

‘It is absolutely ridiculous that we invest in people in this country regardless of where they are from, but then leave them unemployed to recruit from abroad.

‘We think we should prioritise those who we have trained and who work here already for the jobs that progress into consultant and GP posts.’