Strikes at short notice will be harmful and totally unfair to patients

Responding to the announcement by the British Medical Association of strike dates for resident doctors later this month, the chief executive of NHS Providers, Daniel Elkeles, said:

"Announcing five days of strike action with just two weeks’ notice can only be harmful.

"It’s totally unfair to patients whose care will be cancelled at such short notice just as the NHS was beginning to turn the tide on reducing waiting lists.

"It shows a lack of respect for colleagues from many other disciplines who received lower pay rises and will now have to cover resident doctors’ work.

"And it is going to divert attention away from improving services to focus on planning to keep services as safe as possible.

"We need cool heads to de-escalate this and remove the threat of further damaging industrial action."