LONDON: English hospitals were braced on Thursday for the latest doctors' strike to hit the state-run health service, with managers warning it will leave "routine care virtually at a standstill".
The two-day strike by consultants comes amid record patient waiting times due to a vast pandemic backlog and multiple strikes across the economy over the past year as workers battle a cost of living crisis.
The consultants' strike, only the third time the senior specialist doctors have taken industrial action, began at 7am on Thursday and will run until 7:00 am on Saturday.
"This could undoubtedly be the most severe impact we have ever seen in the NHS as a result of industrial action, with routine care virtually at a standstill for 48 hours," said National Health Service (NHS) medical director Stephen Powis.
"Consultants will not only stop seeing patients themselves, but they won't be around to provide supervision over the work of junior doctors, which impacts thousands of appointments for patients," he said.
The action follows months of disruption as health staff have walked out, leading to delayed treatment and cancelled appointments for hundreds of thousands of patients.
Junior doctors staged an unprecedented five-day stoppage earlier this month over pay and staff retention, their third walkout since April.
Nurses and ambulance staff have also taken strike action, eventually accepting a five per cent pay rise in May.
Powis said emergency and urgent care would be prioritised "in the eighth month of industrial action, and with more than 600,000 appointments already affected, it's becoming even more challenging to get services back on track after each round of action". - AFP
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