Junior doctors and consultants to host strikes TODAY in major escalation of pay row

The BMA say this is against the backdrop of a “hugely understaffed” and “under-resourced health service” and that junior doctors and consultants have seen their pay drop in real terms by “over a third in the past 15 years.

For the first time in NHS history, both sets of staff took joint action last week, which meant that since strikes began, the cumulative total of acute inpatients and outpatient appointments rescheduled has exceeded 1 million (1,015,067), according to NHS England.

GB News: Coverage of NHS strikes

During the peak of the action, there were 26,802 staff absent from work due to industrial action.

NHS national medical director for secondary care and transformation, Dr Vin Diwakar said: “These figures reveal just part of the relentless impact of strikes over the last ten months with the number of appointments rescheduled hitting more than one million, with pressure on services increasing as junior doctors and consultants took joint action last week for the first time in the history of the NHS.”

With the pressure mounting on NHS services, there has been a rise in clinical home care. It’s estimated that it’s growing at over 20 per cent year on year in the UK with the NHS Five-year-forward view foreseeing more home care services available to treat patients in community settings.

It’s thought that clinical home care currently accounts for £2.1billion or 30 per cent of the NHS secondary care medicines budget, which would rise to 60 per cent if extended to all medicines that are appropriate for home care.

Neil Daver, 79, from Blackburn has been receiving care in his own since February 2022. As a Royal Blackburn Hospital Dermatology Department patient, he’s currently being treated for severe eczema with duplimab and has been under the care of HealthNet Homecare.

He says: “The nurse coming to change my dressing every Tuesday, which is fantastic. Instead of having to trail up to the Royal Blackburn or maybe even go as far as Burnley. It’s great to have a nurse coming to change my bandages in my own home.

“There’s no way I could get to the hospital, it would be almost impossible for me. It would mean my daughter would have to take a day off work, so it’s very important.”

The HealthNet Homecare nurse, Angie Nolan and several of her colleagues visit Neil at his home every two weeks to administer his treatment, providing a two-hour appointment tailored to his treatment plan.

Angie finds that patients find it more “comfortable” and “relaxed”, than going to a hospital or clinic.

She added, “It does make a massive difference, particularly to people like Neil, because it’s very difficult for him to mobilise outside of his home, It does impact on his family as well. For people to have to get to the hospital each time they need treatment is quite a big strain on them, together with the condition that they are already facing.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the coordinated and calculated strike action will “create further disruption” and “misery” for patients and NHS colleagues.

“In the face of ongoing and escalating strike action, we will continue to take steps to protect patient safety and ensure the health service has the staff it needs to operate safely and effectively.”