Junior doctors in England have launched a fifth round of industrial action, with thousands going on strike just days after starting their first NHS jobs.
The strike action comes less than 24 hours after figures revealed the waiting list of people awaiting treatment had climbed to a record high of 7.6 million.
Sir Julian Hartley, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said cancellations could hit a million after strikes by junior doctors and consultants in August.
The NHS Confederation has called the government’s “business as usual” approach to strike action “dangerous” and urged it to reopen talks with doctors.
Steve Barclay, the health secretary, said patients were “bearing the brunt of the impact of continuous strikes” and the fresh round “will cause more appointments and procedures to be postponed”.
He added: “My door is always open to discuss how to improve doctors’ working lives, but this pay award is final so I urge the BMA to end its strikes immediately.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Junior doctors in England have launched a fifth round of industrial action, with thousands going on strike just days after starting their first NHS jobs.
The strike action comes less than 24 hours after figures revealed the waiting list of people awaiting treatment had climbed to a record high of 7.6 million.
Sir Julian Hartley, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said cancellations could hit a million after strikes by junior doctors and consultants in August.
The NHS Confederation has called the government’s “business as usual” approach to strike action “dangerous” and urged it to reopen talks with doctors.
Steve Barclay, the health secretary, said patients were “bearing the brunt of the impact of continuous strikes” and the fresh round “will cause more appointments and procedures to be postponed”.
He added: “My door is always open to discuss how to improve doctors’ working lives, but this pay award is final so I urge the BMA to end its strikes immediately.”
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