Data shows how many North East NHS patients were impacted by industrial action this month

Junior doctors take part in a rally in Trafalgar Square during a nationwide strike on April 11, 2023 in London. Junior doctors in England are held a 96-hour walkout hoping to achieve full pay restoration after seeing their pay cut by more than a quarter since 2008. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

This month NHS services have been impacted by industrial action which has seen some patients miss out on scheduled treatments. The NHS has said over 195,000 cancellations occurred as a result of 27,361 staff not working due to industrial action.

NHS data has shown 2,462 elective procedures which were scheduled to take place ended up being rescheduled as a result of industrial action for impatient and day cases in the North East and Yorkshire while 21,776 outpatient appointments where rescheduled due to the four days of strikes which happened from Tuesday, April 11 until Friday, April 14.

NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “Today’s figures lay bare the colossal impact of industrial action on planned care in the NHS. Each of the 195,000 appointments postponed has an impact on the lives of individuals and their families and creates further pressure on services and on a tired workforce – and this is likely to be an underestimate of the impact as some areas provisionally avoided scheduling appointments for these strike days.

Defending the strikes, Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, British Medical Association junior doctors committee co-chairs, said: “Junior doctors know all too well the frustration of patients waiting too long for care, and with a waiting list of 7.2 million in England, we are facing difficult conversations with them every single day.

“These millions of patients are not in this position because of strikes though. Persistent under-resourcing of the health service and under-valuing staff – exacerbated by a pandemic – mean we simply don’t have the workforce and capacity to provide the high-quality and timely care that patients need and deserve.

“This is why we have been led to strike, and while we are of course sorry to anyone who had their care disrupted, this is the same apology we’re already having to give to patients on a daily basis because the NHS cannot cope.”

South Tyneside and Sunderland Foundation NHS Trust saw a total of 1,591 appointments rescheduled due to the industrial action while 4,177 were impacted in the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Exactly 332 appointments were rescheduled within the Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust.