Junior doctor strike led to 175 000 postponements, data show

More than 175 000 planned hospital appointments and procedures were postponed during last week’s 72 hour strike by junior doctors, show official data from NHS England.1

The release of the figures came as BMA leaders agreed to meet England’s health and social care secretary, Steve Barclay, this week to try to resolve the dispute over pay and conditions that prompted the three day walkout.

Responding to the data on cancelled appointments, the co-chairs of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee, Vivek Trivedi and Robert Laurenson, said, “Every day junior doctors despair as they see operations cancelled and treatment postponed for the millions on the waiting …