Further Strikes Could Result In NHS Cutting Staff Or Services, Health Leaders Warn
The NHS may have to cut frontline staff or services due to the financial impact of further strikes on already squeezed budgets, health leaders warn.
Resident doctors are due to stage walk-outs across England on Friday as part of the ongoing dispute between the British Medical Association (BMA) and the government over pay and conditions.
The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers are now warning that if strikes continue this will pile yet more pressure on constrained budgets and if the NHS has to absorb these costs, it could mean other services need to be cut.
The two organisations are issuing a last-minute call urging the BMA to call off the walk outs due to the excessive disruption they will cause to patients and the impact they could have on NHS performance and finances.
They warn that if strikes incur further costs this could result in staffing levels being cut or fewer tests, appointments and operations being carried out. This would risk jeopardising progress against key waiting time standards, including hitting the 18-week target for planned care.
The knock-on impact of this will mean more patients continuing to wait longer for care, many of whom may no longer be able to work without the treatment they need, reducing revenues from taxation and increasing costs from out of work benefit.
The last five-day walk-out in July is estimated to have cost the health service £300 million and was one of three unplanned cost pressures not included in the NHS’s budget for 2025/26 along with redundancy costs and potentially higher drug prices.
NHS leaders and their teams are already gearing up to fill rota gaps and ensure patient safety is prioritised at all times during the strikes, working incredibly hard to try to maintain at least 95% of elective activity as instructed to in recent correspondence from NHS England.
But despite their best efforts it is likely that tens of thousands of patients could have their appointments, tests or operations cancelled or delayed if surges in demand require NHS teams to prioritise urgent and emergency care.
The last time resident doctors went on strike, over 54,000 procedures and appointments needed to be cancelled or rescheduled, despite the NHS maintaining 93% of its planned activity.
The early flu season could further exacerbate these pressures, with higher demand on urgent and emergency care and increased staff sickness making it more difficult to fill rota gaps.
NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor said:
“There is no doubt that patients will bear the brunt of this disruption, with tens of thousands of tests, appointments and operations likely to be delayed or cancelled. NHS leaders understand how frustrating this will be for them being left waiting in pain or discomfort, not knowing when their treatment will be rescheduled.
“With flu already beginning to bite there is a real risk that these strikes will leave the NHS limping into a very difficult winter at a time when it is trying to recover performance and implement vital long-term reforms.
“But industrial action is also having a major financial impact on the NHS, with the last five-day walk out estimated to have cost a staggering £300 million. These costs are not included in the health service’s budget, which is already very tight given the strain on public sector finances. This means that more strikes will blow further holes in these constrained budgets and could result in leaders having to cut staff or reduce service levels in order to balance the books.
“The BMA must recognise that these strikes are disproportionate, given the current financial environment and the fact resident doctors have already had one of the biggest pay rises in the public sector. We would urge them to call them off, moderate their demands to something achievable and re-enter negotiations.”
