Junior doctors' strike to cost Britain almost £13m a day
Analysis for The Telegraph found the five-day strike would deliver a £64m hit to the economy as Britain loses working days and suffers lower productivity.
However, the overall cost is likely to be far higher as the findings do not factor in indirect losses, such as the consequences of missed appointments.
The figures will come as a blow to Sir Keir Starmer after he gave away big pay rises last year to end industrial action.
Samuel Miley, from CEBR, said: 'You will have people who unfortunately miss hospital appointments because of the strike or receive care that would have been better.
'Those people will face negative consequences in terms of their own health, which subsequently can be measured in economic terms.
'For instance, if they are forced to spend more time off work, or their condition worsens such that they are no longer able to return to work at all.'
More than 200,000 hospital appointments risk being cancelled as a result of the walkouts, which will take place from July 25.
Junior doctors are demanding a 29pc pay rise despite receiving the largest public sector salary increase for the second year in a row.
Blow to Starmer
The walkout is embarrassing for Sir Keir Starmer who last year highlighted ending NHS strikes as a key factor in 'fixing the foundations of this country'.
It is also a major setback for his mission of bringing down Britain's ballooning benefits bill, with surging long-term sickness blamed as a key driver by experts.
Britain's tattered public finances leave little room for outsized pay rises, suggesting strikes will be difficult to resolve.
Economists have warned Rachel Reeves may already be as much as £30bn short of fiscal rules ahead of the autumn Budget.
Mr Miley said: 'The financial situation is tight, which means that any increase in public sector expenditure is fraught with difficulties.
'That being said, doctors are clearly an essential part of the workforce and have probably more bargaining power than other public sector workers. Hence, I think a pay rise is probably the more likely outcome.'
The resident doctor strikes also threaten to in bringing down NHS waiting lists, putting a key Labour manifesto pledge at risk.
The Office for National Statistics recently found the healthcare system was still 9.6pc less productive than in 2019, despite receiving £30bn more in funding.
The NHS employed a record 2m people in March, an increase of 44,000 from a year earlier.
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