NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey slams the British Medical Association as health leaders urge patients to still come forward for care
The boss of the NHS says the doctors’ strike “has been deliberately timed to cause havoc”.
It comes as NHS England is urging patients to still come forward to hospitals and GPs if they need care, amid fears some seriously unwell will delay getting help. Its chief executive Sir Jim Mackey told health leaders that hospitals were in “as good a place as we could hope” after the first day of the walkout.
More recent strikes since Sir Jim took charge of the NHS have seen the health service manage to still carry out 95% of planned appointments, but this six-day walkout comes during the Easter school holidays when many staff will have booked annual leave.
READ MORE: Junior doctors begin 6-day strike as row over £3bn cost escalates with Wes StreetingREAD MORE: Doctors’ strikes have now cost the NHS £3bn – here’s why they’re holding out for better deal
Sir Jim wrote a letter to hospital leaders on Tuesday evening which said: “I know today has been tough for staff picking up the strain across the country – and how disruptive and challenging it’s been for many hospitals to manage it and fill their rotas following the Easter weekend.
“We cannot forget this action has been deliberately timed to cause havoc. There’s a long way to go, but it looks like we’re in as good a place as we could hope on day one.
“I am so grateful to everyone for all you’ve done ahead of today, during today and what you will be doing over the next five plus days to contend with these pressures, maintain services and help keep the show on the road for our patients.”
It comes after new YouGov polling found that 55% of British adults oppose resident doctors going on strike. Some 37% said they support the action, according to the survey of 4,385 adults in Britain.
The six-day walkout which started at 7am on Tuesday is the 15th by resident doctors since 2023 and the joint-longest. It is the 60th day of strike action in the industrial dispute which started under the previous Conservative government. NHS estimates have put the cost at about £50 million a day for staff cover and rescheduled operations.
NHS England has urged patients to attend planned appointments unless they have been contacted to reschedule. It says GP practices, NHS 111 and urgent and emergency care services continue to be available. Hospital trusts are also working to protect priority treatments such as urgent surgery and cancer care.
Professor Ramani Moonesinghe, National Clinical Director for Critical and Perioperative Care at NHS England, said: “Staff across the NHS will be doing everything they can this week to keep patients safe and ensure people can continue to get the care they need.
“We know this round of industrial action will be difficult, coming straight after the Easter weekend, but patients should come forward as normal and attend any appointments unless they are contacted otherwise. The NHS remains open for you this week – as ever, please call 999 or come to A&E in an emergency, and use 111 online first if you need urgent but not life-threatening help.”
Resident doctors, those below the level of consultant, are on picket lines protesting against pay erosion which they want returning to 2008 levels. The BMA says real terms pay is down a fifth since then according to the retail price index (RPI). The doctors’ union stresses that with RPI inflation running at 3.6%, their headline pay offer of 3.5% for 2026/27 is still a real-terms pay cut.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said the overall package of measures would have led to resident doctors getting an average pay rise of 4.9%. It also included reimbursement for exam costs and an additional 1,000 medical training places.
The BMA’s resident doctors committee (RDC) rejected the offer without putting it to a vote by members. It claims Mr Streeting’s team made a late change to the deal so that some of the pay rise would be phased in over three years.
RDC chair Dr Jack Fletcher said: “What the Health Secretary is asking us to reconsider now is essentially will you bake in more real terms pay cuts, not just this year, but for future years? So we’re more than willing to reconsider, or meet the Health Secretary and reconsider any offer that he puts to us. However, we can’t accept further real terms pay cuts.”
Most other NHS staff including nurses and midwives have only been offered 3.3% for 2026-27. Other public sector staff including 1.5 million council workers have been awarded a 3.3 per cent pay rise.