Junior doctors strike: NHS chief calls on ACAS to help with talks

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April 10, 2023, 11:07 GMT

Updated 24 minutes ago

photo caption,

Thousands of junior doctors led by the British Medical Association will strike over the course of four days

The NHS chief has said the government and junior doctors’ unions should invite the conciliation service Akas to help with talks ahead of the “very worrying” strikes this week.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, told the BBC that 350,000 appointments and operations could be cancelled.

England’s junior doctors are set to begin a four-day strike from Tuesday.

The British Medical Association wants a 35% wage increase.

It says the increase will offset 15 years of below-inflationary wage increases that have caused a hiring and retention crisis.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said on Sunday the request was “unrealistic”, but the Bahrain Monetary Agency said Barclay had not yet put a serious offer on the table.

The strike is scheduled to take place from 7:00am BST on Tuesday until 07:00 on Saturday, with the strike across both planned care and emergency care.

Speaking to the BBC, Taylor, whose body represents the NHS Trusts, said the government and unions needed to call in an independent public body, the ACAS, to help advance the talks.

“It’s sad that there doesn’t seem to be any movement at all on either side of this dispute over the past few days,” he said.

“We should consider asking the government and trade unions to call up Acas, the conciliation service, to provide some basis for negotiations, because if anything, attitudes seem to have hardened over the past two days.”

He said intervention was necessary to avoid further strikes.

Taylor described the impact of the strike by thousands of junior doctors as “tremendous”.

“These services are stretched and there is no doubt that there will be a risk to patient safety, there will be a risk to patient dignity because we are not able to provide the kind of care that we want,” he said.

He added, “It’s a very worrying situation… The leaders I’ve spoken to over the last few days are really concerned.”

“Now for us to have this situation where these waiting lists are going to get so long, and work being cancelled, and not being able to guarantee the standard of care that you want to provide – well, that’s heartbreaking for an NHS leader.”

The Bahrain Monetary Agency refused to make any exceptions for any services, unlike the nurses and paramedics unions that agreed to some exceptions in their recent strikes. But the British Medical Association said plans were in place to withdraw junior doctors from the picket line if lives were in danger.

Mental health and some GP services will also be affected.

GPs are suspending routine appointments for up to a week due to strikes, according to The Telegraph.

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