NHS England approach to doctors' strike ‘seriously risky', BMA warns
'We've had proven systems over the last decade that have made sure that where we have to take strike action, senior doctors cover urgency and critical care,' she said.
'This time round, NHS England are pushing for the continuation of non-urgent and scheduled care in a way that we think at best is confusing and will create on-the-day cancellations – and at worst could be risky and lead to harm in emergency departments and on wards, because senior doctors cannot physically be in two places at once.
'We think that a notional guidance from NHS England which is saying that basically all scheduled work should continue to go ahead has potential to be seriously risky for patients.'
Her comments come amid an escalating row between NHS bosses and the BMA over how hospitals should respond to the strike, which is due to begin at 7am on Friday.
During previous rounds of industrial action in 2023 and 2024, NHS England told trusts to cancel large volumes of non-urgent care so that consultants could step in to cover emergency services.
But under the leadership of new NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey, hospitals have now been instructed to cancel non-urgent work only in 'exceptional circumstances' – and only with prior approval.
The BMA argues this new approach risks spreading non-striking doctors too thinly, with Dr Runswick warning: 'Senior doctors are needed to be freed up in order to provide urgency and critical care.
'We think the vast majority of planned and unscheduled care should be shifted.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has ruled out any additional pay rise (Lucy North/PA)
'There are always, in every hospital, local medical managers, local clinical leaders, who will make decisions about what is safe to go ahead – but trying to maintain scheduled care during this strike is not safe in many cases.'
When asked why the union could not avoid strikes altogether, she said walkouts can be delivered safely if planned properly.
'Strikes by doctors do not have to be risky,' she said. 'Strikes by doctors have been run safely in 2016 and 2022, 2023, 2024.
'We are entirely capable of running strikes safely – they just have to be planned for with local medical leadership, and we've done that before. We can do it again.'
She said the BMA was still hopeful a resolution could be reached before the walkout begins and was 'keen to work with NHS England to ensure they are best planned for the safest care'.
Talks between the Government and the BMA have continued in recent days, with Health Secretary Wes Streeting ruling out any additional pay rise this year but indicating other aspects of the contract – such as student debt, exam fees and working conditions – may be up for negotiation.
Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, were awarded an average 5.4% pay increase this financial year, following a 22% rise over the previous two years.
However, the BMA says real-terms pay has still fallen by around 20% since 2008, and is pushing for full 'pay restoration'.
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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Top medics ask union to row back hard stance on doctors' strikes, warning they risk patient safety
Top medics have urged doctors to soften their stance and tell hospitals if they are striking amid fears they will risk patient safety. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMoRC), which represents medical colleges across the country, has urged the British Medical Association (BMA) to suspend its guidance for doctors, which suggests they should not inform their employers whether they plan to strike or not. In a rare intervention on Wednesday, the AMoRC said this would make it extremely difficult for health service leaders and managers to maintain safe patient care. Resident doctors are set to strike on Friday at 7am for five consecutive days after talks with the government broke down and failed to avert the action. The BMA is calling for a 29 per cent pay rise, claiming doctors have seen a 20 per cent pay erosion in their salaries since 2008. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, described the strike action as 'completely unjustified'. He added: 'It shows a complete disdain for patients and the wider recovery of the NHS.' The BMA said the health secretary's offer did not go far enough on pay. Royal Colleges' pleas come as The Independent understands that in at least one area of the country, Cheltenham, hospital chiefs have been considering reducing one full A&E service, following mandates that NHS trusts must not cancel routine care. This would likely result in similar measures to those taken during strikes in December 2023, when Cheltenham A&E changed to a minor injury unit during the day due to concerns over the ability to staff the full A&E. The trust is due to announce whether changes will go ahead on Thursday morning. Elsewhere, hospital leaders have said they will likely have to cancel some operations and appointments during the strikes, despite NHS England's official mandate to continue with routine care. Ahead of the strikes, the BMA has published guidance for striking doctors who are asked by trusts if they intend to take industrial action, stating that they are 'not legally required to respond to such questions' and that the BMA has advised them are not obliged to answer. Now the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has said it 'recognises the right of resident doctors to take industrial action, including by striking. However, following the disappointing news that talks with the Government seem to have broken down, the Academy is today calling on the BMA to suspend its guidance to doctors, which states they should not inform their employers whether they plan to strike or not. 'We know that legally those striking need not inform their employers, but by withholding this vital information, health service leaders and hospital managers have said it will be extremely difficult to maintain safe patient care when they have no idea how many doctors will be absent during the five days of strike action, which begin on Friday.' Other senior medics speaking with The Independent have said they do not support the planned strikes this week. One, who asked to remain anonymous, said: 'I think it's the wrong time. I think the sympathy's gone. So many people are frightened of speaking out, really frightened. They get abused. 'I think [resident doctors] are very angry. I think this is wrong for them to take it out like this – they need to think again. I think about what's good for the country, because what's good for the country is good for the NHS, and what's good for the NHS is good for them. Ahead of the strikes, the BMA and NHS England have clashed over plans for routine care to go ahead. NHS England chief Jim Mackey told NHS trusts they must not cancel routine operations. However, the BMA has warned that this will put patients at risk as consultants will not be able to manage both emergency and routine care demands. Several hospital leaders told The Independent they will likely have to cancel some routine care, with emergency care being the priority in terms of safety. One trust executive said cancelling operations where patients would have to prep was the 'humane thing to do'. They said: 'Even though we come under a lot of pressure [not to cancel] we've always taken the view that the humane thing to do... It's not responsible to put people through that kind of physical and emotional preparation.' During the previous round of strikes in June 2024, around 64,000 operations and patient appointments were cancelled.
Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Telegraph
One politician could benefit most from the doctor's strike: Wes Streeting
Is it possible that the junior doctors have bitten off more than they can chew? That, in abandoning the care of their patients for five days, they risk losing the support and sympathy of the very people whose support they need? That is the dilemma that resident (formerly known as 'junior') doctors face this week after talks between their trade union, the British Medical Association (BMA), and the Government broke down without agreement. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, gives the impression of someone who has had three Weetabix for breakfast, describing the doctors' insistence that strike action would go ahead from Friday as showing 'a complete disdain for patients and the wider recovery of the NHS'. This is strong stuff, particularly from a Labour health secretary. In fact it's measurably more robust than the language that any Conservative health secretary could probably use, given Britain's political culture when it comes to the NHS. Tory ministers still seem to labour under the belief that they must continue to apologise for their party's decision to oppose the creation of the NHS nearly 80 years ago, just as Labour MPs who were born after the fall of the Berlin Wall seem keen to take personal credit for Nye Bevan's accomplishments. Streeting has proved time and again that, regrettably uniquely among his ministerial colleagues, he is prepared to speak the truth even when – God forbid! – it offends someone. Angela Rayner may currently be in pole position to replace Keir Starmer should he decide he's not up to the job, and has reached that position by telling her fans exactly what they want to hear – more social housing, higher taxes, etc. Streeting however seems to understand that the true point of leadership is to say what your audience does not want to hear but needs to. He proved that when he supported the use of independent (private) contractors to shorten NHS waiting lists and in his pragmatic and rational response to the Cass review. Now he's marching boldly into an arena where no Labour health secretary has had to tread since 1979 – the last time a health care union dropped tools in support of higher wages under a Labour government. But he's taking a big risk. How can he be sure that the public will back him rather than the phalanx of angry, articulate medics in white coats standing in picket lines outside hospitals next weekend? The point about Streeting is that he can't be sure, but he will do what he thinks is right anyway. The contrast with other ministers is refreshing and stark. Undoubtedly he is being lobbied daily by Labour backbenchers pleading with him to give way and offer residents yet another inflation-busting pay award to add to the one they got last year. 'Just say yes', after all, has been the central principle this Government has applied to virtually every pay demand since reaching office. And were the topic ever to be debated in the Commons, the whips would fear another populist revolt by rebellious MPs who mistakenly believe that they can escape the voters's judgment on their government by voting against it. Who will the public blame when the inevitable deaths start to occur? When a doctor isn't there to care for a critically ill patient, and instead abandons their post in support of a pay demand – 29 per cent – the likes of which is not only unattainable to them but every other worker in the UK? The BMA was previously a respected organisation with almost as much public prestige as the General Medical Council, the doctors's regulatory body. Now, thanks to its leadership's deliberate shift Leftwards, it is seen as just another trade union which, thanks in part to its new Left-wing chairman, Tom Dolphin, has taken issue with Dr Cass's four-year-long review into the medical care of young transgender people, questioning both her methodology and conclusions. And while the general public can usually be relied upon to support the 'heroes' of the NHS, claims for a 29 per cent pay increase cannot be taken seriously when most of the population is struggling on stagnant wages. Streeting faces two challenges. The first is that Keir Starmer will pull the rug from under his feet and order him to settle with the doctors. This would be humiliating for Streeting and add to the impression of an administration without direction or leadership. Therefore it can't be ruled out. The second is that the public blame him and not the doctors for the inevitable deaths and distress their industrial action will cause. This would be grotesquely unfair but can't be ruled out. If the Health Secretary can navigate both these hurdles and see the doctors return to work, he could yet prove that he has the mettle of modern political leadership.
Telegraph
6 hours ago
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Union leader behind doctors' strikes compared Luigi Mangione to Jesus
The union leader behind the latest round of doctors' strikes compared the alleged killer Luigi Mangione to Jesus. Dr Tom Dolphin, chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) council, appeared to praise the 26-year-old Ivy league graduate who was indicted for the murder of the UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in New York last year. In one post to his Bluesky social media account, Dr Dolphin compared a photograph of Mr Mangione being led to a police station by the NYPD in December to a painting of Christ before his crucifixion. He also said that the alleged murderer, who is accused of gunning down Mr Thompson because of his objections to the American health insurance system, '[stood] up to the rich and powerful' and had 'threaten[ed] the wealthy'. The BMA has announced it will bring some NHS care across England to a standstill on Friday, when 50,000 resident doctors will strike for a 29 per cent pay rise. The strike has been condemned by Wes Streeting as 'reckless and needless', and the union has said patient safety will be put at risk because the NHS is planning to continue with scheduled treatments during the walkout. Stuart Andrew, the shadow health secretary, said: 'These are deeply troubling remarks. For the chair of the BMA to be comparing a man charged with murder to Jesus is highly disturbing – and totally unacceptable. 'Mr Dolphin has serious questions to answer, and should immediately withdraw these comments.' The strike will take place between 7am on Friday and 7am on Wednesday July 30, after ministers refused to agree to the pay increase and pointed out that resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, had received the most generous pay rises of any public sector workers over the last two years. Dr Dolphin, a consultant anaesthetist in London and failed prospective Labour parliamentary candidate, has developed a reputation as a hardline union activist at the BMA. In his posts about Mr Mangione, he also criticised US police for the extensive manhunt that followed Mr Thompson's murder on December 4 2024. He posted a photograph of Mr Mangione's 'perp walk', when he was led away by police officers in an orange jumpsuit, alongside El Greco's 1579 painting 'The Disrobing of Christ'. 'Dramatic scene' The painting depicts Christ being undressed for the crucifixion, after he was sentenced to death at Pontius Pilate's palace, which is described in the New Testament as the Praetorium. Dr Dolphin said: 'This dramatic scene was the authorities trying to show what happens when one man stands up against the rich and powerful. 'I don't think this was how the NYPD were anticipating it would look. Perhaps El Greco's piece should be retitled 'Christ's Perp Walk To The Praetorium'...' He later clarified that while Mr Mangione was 'alleged to have used violence to further his cause', Jesus 'did quite the opposite'. 'I was just struck by the visual imagery and how the NYPD made Mangione look, presumably unintentionally,' he said. Three days earlier, Dr Dolphin had posted another photo of Mr Mangione's walk to jail with the caption: 'They want to be very clear what happens to people who threaten the wealthy.' During the five-day manhunt for Mr Mangione, which ended with his arrest in a McDonald's in Pennsylvania, Dr Dolphin posted: 'Good to see the police in the US applying the same level of effort and diligence to finding the Thompson killer that they do for all homicides.' He added: 'Did you know, privilege literally means 'private law'?' Mr Mangione denies the eleven state charges and four federal charges against him, which include first-degree murder, murder in furtherance of terrorism, criminal possession of a weapon, and stalking. His arrest, and the subsequent discovery of an alleged 'manifesto' criticising health insurance bosses for 'corruption and greed', have turned him into a cult hero on the American Left. Some supporters of Mr Mangione, many of whom are young women, appeared at his federal plea hearing in April to protest against prosecutors' decision to seek the death penalty for him. In January, a poll of US college students found that half viewed the killing of Mr Thompson extremely or somewhat favourably.
