More disruption at Shropshire hospitals as junior doctors and consultants prepare for joint strike
Shropshire patients are facing further disruption after the first joint strike of junior doctors and consultants in the history of the health service was announced.
The co-ordinated industrial action, expected to include county medics, is set to take place in September and October, the British Medical Association (BMA) said.
More than 200 appointments were cancelled and 66 staff were out of action at Shropshire's three main hospitals - Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, and Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital, Oswestry - during the last strikes on August 24 and 25.
Regarding the next strikes, nationally consultants had already announced plans to walk out for 48 hours from September 19, and will be joined by their junior colleagues on September 20.
Junior doctors will then continue their strike on September 21 and 22.
Both consultants and junior doctors will then strike together on October 2, 3 and 4.
Staff will work on a “Christmas day cover” basis for both spells of industrial action, meaning emergency care will continue to be provided.
It comes after junior doctors voted in favour to continue strike action, with the BMA’s mandate on industrial action renewed for another six months.
The union has now told Prime Minister Rishi Sunak he has “nowhere to hide”.
Junior doctor committee co-chairmen Dr Rob Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: “Today, junior doctors across England are sending a single message, loud and clear to the Government: we are not going anywhere.
“We are prepared to continue with our industrial action, but we don’t have to – the Prime Minister has the power to halt any further action by making us a credible offer that we can put to our members. Refusing to negotiate with us and with our consultant colleagues is not the way ahead.
“Rishi Sunak now has nowhere to hide. There can be no more delaying, no more wasting time with impositions of pay deals, no more declarations that strikes must end before even stepping in the room with us."
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said there will be no more talks on pay.
Dr Trivedi added: “If he does not come to the table with a credible offer on pay, he will face another six months of strike action. And another six months after, and after that, if he continues to ignore us. He knows the stakes, he knows our ask and now he knows our resolve.”
In July, the Government said junior doctors would get pay rises of 6%, along with an additional consolidated £1,250 increase, and hospital consultants will also receive 6%.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has said there will be “no more negotiations on pay”.
Earlier this week it was revealed that the latest consultants strike – which took place on August 24-26 – impacted 45,827 inpatient and outpatient hospital appointments in England.
A further 1,302 cancellations in mental health, learning disability and community settings were also recorded, though this is likely to include a small amount of double-counting, NHS England said.
Industrial action in the NHS has been ongoing since December 2022, with the number of inpatient and outpatient appointments cancelled now standing at 885,154.
If the community and mental health figures are included, the total rises to more than 940,000 – though this will not reflect the overall number of actual cancellations, due to some duplication of data.
After the last strikes, NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: “Industrial action continues to have a huge impact on the NHS, and on the lives of patients and their families.”
“This strike took place into a bank holiday weekend, when NHS activity is generally lighter, but many services have for some time avoided scheduling any panned appointments for strike days in order to prioritise emergencies.
“This means the true impact of this action will be even higher, and as we move into September, the extraordinary cumulative effect of more than nine months of disruption poses a huge challenge for the health service, as staff work tirelessly to tackle the backlog.
“I’d like to thank all colleagues across the NHS who kept patients safe and provided life-saving care during this latest round of action.”
