More than 3,600 appointments were cancelled across Nottinghamshire hospitals due to the latest round of junior doctor strikes, figures show. The cancellations, which include some operations, come after members of the British Medical Association (BMA) walked out for four days between April 11 and 15 as they demand fairer pay.
Staff on the picket line told Nottinghamshire Live that "everyone feels undervalued" by the government. Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), which runs Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital, cancelled 2,408 appointments.
The NHS trust said junior doctors accounted for 50 per cent of its workforce. Data shows that 763 were on strike on the final day. At Sherwood Forest Hospitals (SFH), which operates King's Mill, Newark and Mansfield Community hospitals, striking staff peaked at 183.
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The trust cancelled 1,221 appointments, a significant rise in comparison to the three-day strike in March, when 198 were pushed back. The two periods of industrial action have led to a total of 6,401 cancellations across Nottinghamshire.
Almost 200,000 were rescheduled across England due to the latest round of strikes. Dr Keith Girling, Medical Director at NUH, said the trust was "very sorry" about the number of cancellations.
“Junior doctors make up around 50% of the medical workforce and, in order to cover their work, consultants and other senior staff have had to be redeployed away from their normal duties," he said. “We are very sorry that this has resulted in a number of patients having to have appointments rescheduled.
"Our teams are working hard to reinstate those appointments at the earliest opportunity but we appreciate that these delays do impact on the care that we are able to provide.” Rachel Eddie, Chief Operating Officer at SFH, said: "We recognise that the industrial action has had a significant impact and that regrettably we have had to rearrange some elective appointments and procedures in order to ensure that we could continue to provide vital urgent and emergency care.”
“We understand the impact that waiting for treatment can have on patients and their families and we want to thank patients who are still awaiting treatment for their understanding while our colleagues continue working to re-schedule these appointments as quickly as possible.”
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