250,000 missed appointments and an £87million bill for the NHS: The crippling cost to patients forecast for five-day doctors' strike
The walkouts may also cost the NHS £87million in staffing cover, a think-tank has said.
Resident doctors – previously known as junior doctors – will strike for five days from Friday in pursuit of a 29 per cent pay rise.
Charities have expressed their 'deep concern' at the action and warned it will cause 'significant distress, pain and worsening health for patients'. Now the Policy Exchange think-tank has estimated the 'considerable' impact it is likely to have on waiting lists and NHS finances.
Consultants will be able to cash-in by charging hospitals inflated rates of up to £2,504 a shift to cover for absent junior colleagues, depleting trusts of funds that could have been used to buy new scanners, repair buildings or deliver more procedures.
The British Medical Association is further demanding hospitals pay consultants £6,000 to provide on-call cover for striking colleagues.
But there is still unlikely to be enough doctors to provide a full service, meaning bosses will be forced to cancel some appointments.
Resident doctors have crippled the NHS by taking industrial action 11 times since 2022.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has described the BMA's behaviour as 'shockingly irresponsible' and insisted he will not budge on pay
If strikes occur at the same rate over the next six months, Policy Exchange estimates more than two million appointments could be affected. It also puts the cost of providing consultant cover at £17.5million a day, totalling £367.46million over the same period.
The figures come just days after an investigation revealed coroners' reports had linked at least five patient deaths to junior doctor strikes in 2023/24. Resident doctors belonging to the BMA have voted to walkout for up to six months despite receiving above inflation pay rises for the past three years, worth an extra 28.9 per cent in total. This includes an inflation-busting rise this year of 5.4 per cent, which is the most generous in the public sector.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has described the BMA's behaviour as 'shockingly irresponsible' and insisted he will not budge on pay.
Policy Exchange estimates that strikes could reduce inpatient activity for the month of July by 4.5 per cent and outpatient activity by 8.7 per cent, threatening NHS England's ability to meet its target of treating 65 per cent of patients within 18 weeks from next spring.
The report also suggest strikes could make it 'impossible' for the Prime Minister to deliver on his pledge to reach a target of 92 per cent by the next election. The analysis assumes a similar level of disruption as in previous strikes.
Former Tory health secretary Victoria Atkins welcomed the Policy Exchange's report, named 'Completely Unreasonable': The Possible Impact of the BMA Resident Doctor Committee's Proposed Industrial Action. She said: 'As Labour changes the law to make it easier for unions to call strikes, this sort of action will only become more likely.'
Mr Streeting and the BMA are due to meet this week. It is understood other ways to boost doctors' finances, such as changes to student loans and pensions are being examined.
Fewer than half of resident doctors entitled to vote in the latest BMA ballot backed action. The Mail approached the BMA and the health department for comment.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
9 minutes ago
- The Independent
What to know about Ozzy Osbourne's rare form of Parkinson's disease
British heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne died earlier this week at 76 years old, more than 20 years since the 'Prince of Darkness' was first diagnosed with a rare form of genetic Parkinson's disease. The cause of the Black Sabbath frontman's recent death has not been made explicit. By this year, Osbourne told listeners of his SiriusXM radio show 'Ozzy Speaks' that he could no longer walk due to the condition he'd been diagnosed with in 2003. 'I have made it to 2025,' he said, according to People. 'I can't walk, but you know what I was thinking over the holidays? For all my complaining, I'm still alive.' Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological disorder that is characterized by slow movements, tremors, and balance problems, according to the Parkinson's Foundation. Most cases happen for unknown reasons, but some are inherited, the Cleveland Clinic notes. There are several types of Parkinson's disease, including genetic, early-onset, and sporadic: the most common. "Genetic forms of Parkinson's account for approximately 8 percent of individuals receiving a Parkinson's diagnosis,' Deputy Director of Research at Parkinson's UK David Dexter explained in a statement. Osbourne was impacted by a gene called PARK 2, which is also known as PRKN-2. When the gene is mutated, it is the most common cause of early-onset Parkinson's disease. A rare recessive form of the disease may be caused by that mutation. PARK 2 mutations cause about 15 percent of genetic and 4 percent of the most common disease cases with early onset Parkinson's. People are diagnosed with Parkinson's at an average age of 60, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. In Parkinson's disease nerve cells in the brain slowly break down and die. Many symptoms are caused by a loss of those cells that produce dopamine – a mood regulator – in the brain. Decreased dopamine leads to irregular brain activity, according to the Mayo Clinic. People with Parkinson's disease also lose another chemical messenger known as norepinephrine that controls blood pressure and other bodily functions. Parkinson's isn't curable, but there are many different treatment options, including brain surgery. Osbourne had been receiving stem cell treatments, which are used to supplement dopamine loss. Parkinson's disease impacts more than 1.1 million Americans, and it is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. An estimated 90,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Parkinson's every year and death rates have surged by about 63 percent over the last 20 years. While Parkinson's itself is not considered fatal, people can die from complications of the disease, including lung problems tied to muscle weakness that impede the ability to cough and to swallow. Aspiration pneumonia accounts for 70 percent of deaths among Parkinson's patients, according to a federal study. That occurs when bacteria from the mouth is pulled into the lungs. "There's so many different types of Parkinson's; it's not a death sentence by any stretch of the imagination, but it does affect certain nerves in your body,' Ozzy's wife Sharon Osbourne previously told ABC News' 'Good Morning America.' 'And it's like you have a good day, a good day, and then a really bad day." Sharon also told RadioX that Ozzy had to work with a physiotherapist every day to keep his muscles moving. 'I may be moaning that I can't walk but I look down the road and there's people that didn't do half as much as me and didn't make it,' Ozzy said on SiriusXM.
Leader Live
22 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Streeting: We are doing everything we can to minimise patient harm during strike
A five-day walkout by resident doctors in England is under way, with members of the British Medical Association (BMA) manning picket lines across the country. The Health Secretary condemned the strike as 'reckless' and said the Government would not allow the BMA to 'hold the country to ransom'. Asked about the risk of patient harm during a visit to NHS England HQ in London, he told the PA news agency on Friday: 'I'm really proud of the way that NHS leaders and frontline staff have prepared and mobilised to minimise the disruption and minimise the risk of harm to patients. 'We've seen an extraordinary response, including people cancelling their leave, turning up for work, and resident doctors themselves ignoring their union to be there for patients. I'm extremely grateful to all of them. 'What I can't do today is guarantee that there will be no disruption and that there is no risk of harm to patients. 'We are doing everything we can to minimise it, but the risk is there, and that is why the BMA's action is so irresponsible. 'They had a 28.9% pay award from this Government in our first year, there was also an offer to work with them on other things that affect resident doctors – working lives – and that's why I think this is such reckless action. 'This Government will not allow the BMA to hold the country to ransom, and we will continue to make progress on NHS improvement, as we've done in our first year.' Asked about next steps and the continued threat of doctor strikes, given the BMA has a six-month mandate to call more industrial action, Mr Streeting said: 'When the BMA asks, 'what's the difference between a Labour government and a Conservative government?', I would say a 28.9% pay rise and a willingness to work together to improve the working conditions and lives of doctors. 'That is why the public and other NHS staff cannot understand why the BMA have chosen to embark on this totally unnecessary, reckless strike action.' It comes as NHS chief executive Sir Jim Mackey told broadcasters on Friday about his different approach to managing the strike, including keeping as much pre-planned care going as possible rather than just focusing on emergency care. 'So the difference this time is the NHS has put a huge effort in to try and get back on its feet,' he said at NHS England HQ in London. 'As everybody's been aware, we've had a really tough period, and you really feel colleagues on the ground, local clinical leaders, clinical operational colleagues etc, really pulling together to try and get the NHS back on its feet. 'And we also learned from the last few rounds of industrial action that harm to patients and disruption to patients was much broader than the original definitions. So we've decided to say it needs to be a broader definition. We can't just focus on that small subset of care. 'Colleagues in the service have tried to keep as much going as humanly possible as well, and the early signs are that that's been achieved so far, but it is early doors. 'In the end, capacity will have to be constrained by the numbers of people we've actually got who do just turn up for work, and what that means in terms of safe provision, because the thing that colleagues won't compromise is safety in the actual delivery. But it does look like people have really heard that. 'They're really pulling together to maximise the range of services possible.' Asked about further strikes, he said: 'It is possible. I would hope not. I would hope after this, we'll be able to get people in a room and resolve the issue. 'But if we are in this with a six month mandate, we could be doing this once a month for the next next six months, but we've got to organise ourselves accordingly.' Asked why he was not willing to bump pay from what the BMA calculates is £18 an hour to £22 per hour, Mr Streeting told broadcasters: 'I think the public can see, and other NHS staff can see the willingness this Government showed from day one coming into office to try and deal with what had been over a decade of failure on behalf of the previous government, working with resident doctors to improve their pay and to improve the NHS. 'That's why resident doctors had a 28.9% pay award, and that's why the disruption they are inflicting on the country is so unnecessary and so irresponsible.' Mr Streeting said 'we know there'll be real challenges over the next five days'. He added that patients, particularly those who end up waiting a long time for care due to strikes, 'do come to harm, and however much the BMA try and sugarcoat it, what they are fundamentally doing today is forgetting the three words that should be at the forefront of every doctor's minds every day, which is, 'do no harm'.' On whether strikes are going to become the 'new normal', he added: 'As I've said before, the BMA have had a 28.9% pay award from this Government, and we were willing to go further to help on some of the working conditions that doctors face. 'That offer of joint working, that partnership approach, that hasn't gone away, but it does take two to tango, and I hope that the BMA will reflect very carefully on the disruption they are inflicting on patients, the pressures they're putting on their colleagues, and the circumstances in which they are doing so – a 28.9% pay rise and a government that was willing to work with them. 'Those are not grounds for strike action.' It comes after Sir Keir Starmer made a last-minute appeal to resident doctors, saying the strikes would 'cause real damage'. He added: 'Most people do not support these strikes. They know they will cause real damage… 'These strikes threaten to turn back the clock on progress we have made in rebuilding the NHS over the last year, choking off the recovery.' The BMA has argued that real-terms pay has fallen by around 20% since 2008, and is pushing for full 'pay restoration'. The union took out national newspaper adverts on Friday, saying it wanted to 'make clear that while a newly qualified doctor's assistant is taking home over £24 per hour, a newly qualified doctor with years of medical school experience is on just £18.62 per hour'. BMA council chairman Dr Tom Dolphin told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the union had been expecting more pay for doctors. He said: 'Where we were last year when we started the pay campaign, we were down a third on our pay compared to 2008. 'So you've got last year's pay offer which did indeed move us towards (pay restoration), but Wes Streeting himself said that pay restoration is a journey, not an event, implying that there would be further pay restoration to come, and we were expecting our pay to be restored in full – that's our campaign's goal. 'We got part way there, but then that came to a halt this year – we've only had an offer that brings us up, just to catch up with inflation.' Asked what it would take for doctors to go back to work, he said the BMA needed to see 'a clear, guaranteed pathway' to pay restoration. He added that 'it's very disappointing to see a Labour Government taking such a hard line against trade unions'. Elsewhere, the Nottingham City Hospital – where Dr Melissa Ryan, co-chairwoman of the BMA's resident doctors' committee works in paediatrics – reached an agreement with the BMA to exempt one doctor from the strike to work on the neonatal intensive care unit. Speaking from a London picket line, Dr Ryan told The Times: 'I do know that we've granted a derogation already. It is actually at my work, with the babies on one of the neonatal units I work on. That is because it is an intensive care unit for babies. 'We don't have enough senior staff to cover the doctors that aren't there, the residents. And actually, it is important to us that those very sick babies get a lot of care. So we have granted a resident doctor to go back.' The BMA said it had also agreed a derogation for two anaesthetists to work at University Hospital Lewisham on Saturday to ensure patient safety. Louise Stead, group chief executive of Ashford and St Peter's and Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trusts, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that around 500 appointments were being rescheduled 'but we are continuing to do about 96% of the work we've had planned'.
The Guardian
40 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Graham Thorpe's care had 'failings' in last months of his life, says coroner
There were 'failings' in the provision of former England cricketer Graham Thorpe's care in the months before he died, a coroner has said, as a conclusion of suicide was recorded at an inquest. Thorpe, 55, died on 4 August 2024 after being struck by a train at a railway station in Surrey. He had 'spiralled into depression' after losing his job as a batting coach in 2022, and tried to take his own life on another occasion, Surrey coroner's court heard. He also asked his wife for help to end his life. The coroner, Jonathan Stevens, said the last time Thorpe was seen in person by healthcare professionals was on 26 March 2024. 'In my judgment there were shortcomings in the care that should have been provided to Graham in the last four months or so of his life,' he said. Stevens added that 'there were failings in the provision of his care', but said that, on the evidence, he could not conclude those failings were gross and that, without them, Thorpe would not have died. He said healthcare appointments were offered to Thorpe, but he 'found it hard to attend these' because of his mental health. Stevens found that 'someone should have gone to see him to properly monitor and assess him, to do a face-to-face risk assessment and understand and address his care needs as required by the care plan'. The inquest heard that healthcare professionals did not consider Thorpe to be in a 'crisis situation' after he missed an appointment with the community mental health team on 28 June. At the time, Thorpe's wife, Amanda, told his care coordinator over the phone that her husband had been asking her 'for help to end his life'. During the same phone consultation, Thorpe said he 'hadn't been out for a while' and 'didn't see the point of being here', but had no immediate plans to act on his suicidal thoughts. The coroner said: 'I don't accept that when Graham was constantly asking his wife to help him end his life, which was a new presentation … that he was not at that point in crisis. 'It's clear there were shortcomings in his care. If he had been seen in those last four months, particularly after that incident on 28 June, I cannot say whether it would or would not have made any difference.' In May 2023, Thorpe had suicidal thoughts and was given inpatient treatment. Stevens said that 'some similar protective measures should have been considered in June 2024'. An investigation was carried out by Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS trust after his death. Thorpe was a mainstay of the England men's cricket team for many years, as a batter between 1993 and 2005, and then as a coach for 12 years. During his international career, he struck 16 Test hundreds for England, including a debut century against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1993. In all formats, he represented his country 182 times. Amanda Thorpe told the inquest the termination of his employment with the England and Wales Cricket Board was a 'real shock to Graham', which was the 'start of the decline of his mental health'. Speaking outside the coroner's court, she said: 'We will never get over the tragic loss of Graham, and we miss him every day. He was my best friend, my soulmate, and he was just a joy. And he loved life – but he got very ill.' Mark McGhee, the family's legal representative, said the coroner had found 'significant shortcomings' in the care provided. He said Thorpe's family 'hope that the coroner will address these concerns' so that such a loss 'never happens again'. Jo Lynch, the chief nursing officer for the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS trust, said: 'We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Graham Thorpe and our thoughts are with Graham's family and loved ones. 'We will reflect on the coroner's findings and our role in Graham's care with a view to continuous improvement and learning.' In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at
