At least 60,000 operations and appointments anticipated to be cancelled as docs ‘abandon’ sufferers to go on strike

As many as 70,000 operations and appointments could be cancelled this week as resident doctors start another five-day walkout today.

Health leaders warn 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.

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 – were set to walk out from 7am today until 7am Monday in pursuit of a 26 per cent pay rise.

They have already seen their pay balloon by 28.9 per cent over the past three years and each five-day walkout costs the NHS around £300million in lost activity and overtime payments to covering consultants.

Hospitals have been told they should aim to deliver 95 per cent of usual activity during the strike, though health leaders have conceded this could be ‘more challenging due to the onset of winter pressures and rising flu‘.

The last five-day walkout in November led to the cancellation of 38,961 appointments despite 95 per cent of usual activity being maintained.

If the figure is nearer to 90 per cent this time, 60,000 to 70,000 could be disrupted, further hampering efforts to tackle growing waiting lists.

More beds are filled with flu patients than ever before at this time of year, with the hardest hit hospitals declaring ‘critical incidents’ and order ambulances to divert to other A&Es.

Furthermore, many staff are off sick or on booked annual leave.

Professor Meghana Pandit, national medical director at NHS England, 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.’

This latest action will be the 14th round of strikes by resident doctors since March 2023, resulting in 59 days of disruption to NHS services.

The last two – in November and July this year – also lasted for five consecutive days.

Resident doctors make up half the medical workforce and includes all those below the rank of consultant.

Mike Prentice, the NHS national director for emergency planning, had urged leaders in a memo to focus on reducing hospital bed occupancy ‘ahead of, during and after the industrial action, as we go into the peak holiday period’.

‘These strikes will be followed by two full working days before Christmas (and the bank holidays that follow) where huge effort will be needed to safely discharge patients and get people home in time for Christmas,’ he said.

Hopes that the strike could be averted at the last minute were dashed on Monday when members of the BMA rejected a fresh offer from the Government, which included more senior training places and help with exam fees.

Health secretary Wes Streeting accused the doctors of ‘abandoning patients in their hour of greatest need’ and warned the walkout was occurring at a moment of ‘maximum danger’.

Members voted 83 per cent to 17 per cent to proceed with industrial action, which health leaders had said will cause ‘havoc’ and ‘inevitable harm’.

Mr Kinnock said the Government had offered for the union to extend its mandate and stage the strike in January instead of December, telling Times Radio: ‘For reasons best known to themselves, they have insisted on going ahead with this strike action right in the heart of the Christmas season, and that I think is dangerous, reckless and irresponsible.

‘I just fear that the leadership of the BMA are just hell-bent on going on to these strikes and frankly trying to inflict as much damage as they can on the NHS, and that is just simply the wrong thing to do.’

NHS England also issued an ‘urgent plea’ for eligible people to get their flu vaccine to help ward off cases. 

Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s Resident Doctors Committee, said strikes will continue into the New Year if the Government fails to deliver on the union’s demands.

He said: ‘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.’