NHS strikes must not become ‘business as usual’, health chief warns

Industrial action in the NHS should not become “business as usual”, a senior health chief has warned, as patients brace for more walkouts this month.

Sir Julian Hartley, the chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents trusts providing NHS hospital, mental health, community and ambulance services in England, said the long-term impacts of strikes on patient care was a “major concern”.

His comments come as junior doctors prepare to walk out for 72 hours from 7am on Wednesday.

The BMA Junior Doctors Committee has called for a 35% hike in wages, but earlier this week Health Secretary Steve Barclay branded the demand “unreasonable” and said there must be “movement on both sides” of the dispute.

Chief executive Sir Julian said: “We can’t go on like this. We can’t let strikes become ‘business as usual’ for trusts and their patients.”

He added: “We understand why junior doctors feel so frustrated by their pay rising below inflation.

“Every hour that trust leaders and staff have to spend reorganising strike-hit services is time that takes them away from core business: seeing patients as quickly as possible, providing first-class care and cutting waiting lists.”

The Government has been locked in a series of disputes with unions over pay and working conditions in the NHS since last year, resulting in a wave of strike action across the health service.

Hospital doctors’ union the HCSA is sending ballot papers to junior doctors to extend their mandate for strike action over pay for a further six months.

Consultants in England are also balloting to strike, with the vote set to close on June 27, while the Society of Radiographers’ 20,000 members in England will be balloted on industrial action in the coming weeks.

Almost 300,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England are currently being asked to renew their mandate for industrial action until the end of the year with the vote scheduled to close on June 23.

Sir Julian urged the Government and unions to talk and said it’s “not too late” to prevent walkouts.

He added: “Getting round the table and talking is the only way to sort this out. Yet this isn’t happening and it’s patients, yet again, who will pay the price.

“Trust leaders and their staff will continue to do everything they can to minimise disruption and keep patients safe. But there is major concern about the long-term impact on patients who have their care delayed, on the cost of ensuring cover and the knock-on effects on wider health services.

“The longer that industrial action goes on and trusts have to keep coping with the fallout from the most significant period of industrial action in the history of the NHS, the less they can focus all of their energy on patients.”

HCSA president Dr Naru Narayanan said: “Junior doctors don’t want to strike. They want to be with their patients.

“They have been driven to take this action by years of pay erosion – something that NHS leaders understand.

“At its heart this dispute is about patient care. A series of governments have been asleep at the wheel as a staffing crisis has spiralled out of control. The sooner this Government recognises it must address more than a decade of real-terms pay cuts, the better for the NHS and for patients.

“Junior doctors, their colleagues and NHS leaders are all calling for the government to engage in serious talks which recognise the strength of feeling among doctors.

“Our door has always been open. We urge the government to stop stonewalling, see sense and get round the table to negotiate a deal that will end these strikes.”