NHS' top doctor warns of biggest strike disruption to date as half of medical workforce to walk out
manchestereveningnews.co.ukThe country's top doctor has warned the coming week will see the 'biggest strike disruption to date' as junior doctors stage a sweeping walkout.
Emergency, urgent and critical care will be prioritised, says the NHS, as strike action by junior doctors across England will see 'major disruption of services'. 'Thousands of patients' will face postponements to routine care, including appointments and operations, health service bosses are announcing.
Industrial action by junior doctors part of the British Medical Associations and the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association is set to begin on Monday (13 March) at all NHS trusts in England for 72 hours – the longest continuous period of strike action in recent months.
Some 64,000 junior doctors will be going on strike, making up half of the medical workforce, as the term covers everyone who has just graduated from medical school to those with many years' experience on the front line. READ MORE: 'Many appointments and procedures postponed' as every hospital in Greater Manchester to be hit by doctors strikes In NHS strikes earlier this year including those by the Royal College of Nursing, national derogations have been agreed ahead of the strike, meaning certain services such as intensive care or cancer clinics have been exempt from industrial action and remained working.
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