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Evening Standard

World

Sian Hewitt

Junior doctors strike: Which London hospitals are affected by July’s walkout?

London BMA Steve Barclay NHS

Junior doctors will walk out for the fourth time on Thursday in a five-day strike announced by the British Medical Association last month.

It is thought to be the longest single period of industrial action in the history of the health service. It concludes at 7am on Tuesday July 18 and follows three previous rounds of industrial action.

Thousands of appointments and pre-planned operations will be disrupted as emergency and critical care is prioritised.

Speaking in June, when the strikes were announced, the co-chairs of the BMA junior doctors committee, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, said: “It has been almost a week since the last round of strikes finished but not once have we heard from Rishi Sunak or Steve Barclay in terms of reopening negotiations since their collapse of our talks and cancelling all scheduled meetings a month ago.

“What better indication of how committed they are to ending this dispute could we have?

“As their refusal to even discuss pay restoration leads to continued disruption to the health service, more than four-fifths of junior doctors report finding their patients supportive – they understand the value of a fully staffed and resourced NHS.”

The last round of industrial action staged by the BMA took place in June and led to the cancellation of nearly 33,000 hospital appointments and procedures in London.

An average of 4,566 doctors walked out in London, which is at least 600 more than the North-East, the second worst-affected region.

Junior doctors also walked out in March and April, causing hundreds of thousands more operations and procedures to be cancelled.

They want a pay increase of 35 per cent to make up for inflation in the past 15 years, which they said has cut their earnings by 26 per cent.

But Health Secretary Steve Barclay has branded the pay demand unaffordable, and both sides remain deadlocked.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We hugely value the work of junior doctors and we have been clear that supporting and retaining the NHS workforce is one of our main priorities. As part of a multi-year deal we agreed with the BMA, junior doctors’ pay has increased by a cumulative 8.2 per cent since 2019/20. We also introduced a higher pay band for the most experienced staff and increased rates for night shifts.

“The Health and Social Care Secretary has met with the BMA and other medical unions to discuss pay, conditions and workload. He’s been clear he wants to continue discussing how we can make the NHS a better place to work for all.”

A spokesperson for Imperial College Healthcare Trust, which oversees Charing Cross Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital, said of the new round of strikes: “We expect this will have a significant impact on our hospitals, with no services exempt from the action. As with all industrial action, our priority will be to ensure everyone’s safety.

“We will continue to run urgent and emergency services throughout the strike, including our A&E departments and maternity units. However, to help us run these services safely, we expect we will need to reschedule most of the planned operations and outpatient appointments that are currently booked in for those days. If we need to reschedule your appointment, we will aim to contact you directly by Monday 12 June to tell you. We will arrange a new appointment as soon as we can.

“We are expecting a challenging few days, with extended waits in our A&E departments. We encourage anyone who needs non-emergency medical help or advice to go to NHS 111 online or call 111. But, if you need emergency care (for instance if someone is seriously ill, injured or their life is at risk), you should continue to call 999.”