The NHS faces one of the most difficult starts to the year in its history as junior doctors prepare to walk out for six days, a medical leader has warned.
The strike by junior doctors over pay will have an "enormous impact" on planned care and leave the health service "on the back foot", national medical director Sir Stephen Powis said on Tuesday.
The strike, which begins on January 3 at 7am, amounts to 144 consecutive hours of industrial action – the longest in the 75-year history of the health service.
It is set to end at 7am on January 9.
It comes amid rising pressure on hospitals due to a spike of flu, Covid and norovirus over the festive period. The latest figures show that an average of 218 patients were in hospital in London each day with flu in the week up to December 24, a rise of 66 per cent on the week before.
Sir Stephen warned: "Six consecutive days of industrial action comes at one of our busiest periods – the action will not only have an enormous impact on planned care, but comes on top of a host of seasonal pressures such as Covid, flu, and staff absences due to sickness – all of which is impacting on how patients flow through hospitals.
"Our colleagues across the health service are doing their very best for patients every day with extensive preparations in place, but there’s no doubt they are starting 2024 on the back foot. Not only will action impact next week, it will continue to have a serious impact in the weeks after as we recover services and deal with additional demand."
The British Medical Association (BMA) is seeking a 35 per cent pay rise to correct a real-terms fall in income since 2008. Ministers have branded the pay demand "unaffordable" and refused to resume pay negotiations unless the strikes are called off.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the action would leave hospitals and GP surgeries "skating on thin ice".
"To face almost 150 hours of continuous stoppages is a serious and unprecedented risk – and one that NHS leaders and their staff have never experienced before. The good news is that the NHS has again prepared extensively and has had to become adept at planning for strikes," he said.
Mr Taylor added that NHS trusts had been left with "no choice but to schedule in less activity in anticipation of the strikes", which would lead to more delays for patients who have already faced lengthy waits for treatment.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "We urge the BMA Junior Doctors Committee to call off their strikes and come back to the negotiating table so we can find a fair and reasonable solution, and so we can all get back to focusing on patients and their care.
"NHS staff are working hard to prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care, maternity and trauma, and to ensure we prioritise patients who have waited the longest for elective care and cancer surgery."
