More than 110,000 patients had their NHS care cancelled because of the junior doctors’ strike that ended on Tuesday, figures show.
The impact of the six-day stoppage means the health service in England has now had to rearrange more than 1.3m appointments as a result of industrial action over the last 13 months.
“The longest strike in NHS history has led to unprecedented disruption for patients and their families, and while staff have planned extensively and worked tirelessly to keep patients safe, it comes once again with an enormous cost,” said Prof Sir Stephen Powis, the service’s national medical director.
The strike was the 10th junior doctors have staged since March as part of their long-running campaign to win a 35% pay rise to address the big drop in their real terms income since 2008/09.