Thousands of junior doctors are set to go on strike tomorrow in what has been called the ‘most disruptive action in NHS history.’

Health bosses have warned that when staff affiliated with the British Medical Association take to the picket lines it will have a huge impact on vital services.

It is estimated nearly 300,000 appointments will be impacted by the strikes.

Patients have been urged to continue to use 999 and A&E for life-threatening conditions but to use NHS 111 online, pharmacies and GPs for non-urgent issues

The strikes are the latest in a long-running dispute between public sector unions and the government across Britain and follow three days of walkouts in March.

Junior doctors are trying to secure a pay rise of around 35 percent, and the union has argued that since 2008-2009 medics have experienced a real-terms pay cut of more than 25 percent.

On Monday, more than 1,000 passport service workers began a five-week walkout across the UK.

Meanwhile, further strikes are feared in education after teaching unions rejected the government’s offer of a 4.5 percent pay rise and £1,000 one-off payment.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England, said that while the service had been ‘preparing extensively’ for the strikes, ‘managing additional pressure’ was becoming more difficult.

He said: ‘This is set to be the most disruptive industrial action in NHS history, and the strikes tomorrow will bring immense pressures, coming on the back of a challenged, extended bank holiday weekend for staff and services.

‘Emergency, urgent and critical care will be prioritised.’

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, health secretary Steve Barclay argued that the BMA’s pay demands were ‘widely out of step with pay settlements in other parts of the public sector’.

Last month the health unions Unison, the Royal College of Nursing and GMB urged their members to back the government’s pay offer of a one-off bonus and consolidated pay rise of 5 percent for the 2023-24 financial year.

Barclay said: ‘Unfortunately, the decision by BMA junior doctors’ leaders to maintain an unrealistic position meant we were unable to make progress with talks.

‘It seems they are intent on maintaining a militant stance rather than working with the government and NHS management to meet the best interests of their members and of patients.’

The health secretary warned that the walkouts, which coincide with Easter school holidays, Ramadan and Passover, will pose a ‘considerable risk to patient safety’, echoing comments by senior NHS figures who are braced for severe delays to in-patient treatments.

A three-day strike action by junior doctors in March resulted in more than 175,000 patient appointments and procedures being cancelled or postponed, placing added strain on the health service as it tries to clear a waiting list backlog of about 7mn patients.

The NHS Confederation has estimated that as many as 250,000 operations and appointments could be cancelled or delayed as a result of the four-day strike.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article