Tensions between the Government and doctors have escalated after Downing Street said the British Medical Association (BMA) needed to be “upfront” about the risk to patients from this week’s strikes.
A senior NHS chief also weighed in, warning that the impact of joint action by junior doctors and consultants in English hospitals “cannot be overestimated”.
The BMA has refused to back down on its demand of a 35 per cent pay rise for junior doctors, but ministers have been accused of failing to break the deadlock by rejecting calls for fresh pay talks.
Consultants are staging two days of walkouts this week while junior doctors will strike for three days, with both sectors providing limited cover on Wednesday.
Asked whose fault it would be if people died due to the strikes, Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said: “I don’t think it’s helpful to speculate on that sort of thing. I think we’ve been clear that patient safety has been put at risk.
“It is important that the British Medical Association are upfront in public that their action based on their wish for a 35 per cent pay increase is going to damage patient care.”
Ministers have ramped up pressure on striking doctors by pushing ahead with plans for minimum safety levels in hospitals – a move which unions say would put medics at risk of the sack if they went out on strike.
But the Government has denied the proposed new laws would criminalise strike action by the back door.
NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “The NHS is set to experience the equivalent of five ‘Christmas Days’ in the next three weeks, where many routine services and appointments may not be delivered.
“While colleagues are working hard to ensure we keep patients safe and prioritise emergency and critical care, the collective impact of this on patients and staff cannot be overestimated.
“The level of ongoing disruption to services caused by many thousands of rescheduled appointments is an enormous challenge, and we’re very grateful to the public for using the NHS wisely during this unprecedented period by using 999 in life-threatening situations and 111 online and community services like pharmacies and GPs for everything else.”
A Labour source said if they were in government they would negotiate with the BMA, and pointed out that the Health Secretary has not held talks with junior doctors since May or with consultants since March. They added: “Inaction Man in No 10 has never held talks with either of them.”
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said a Keir Starmer government would not be able to afford 35 per cent, but this would not stop Labour ministers from sitting down for talks.
BMA sources said they would be demanding the same from a future Labour government as this one, as their requests are based on years of real terms pay cuts.
Doctors and nurses who work in hospitals by the coast would be able to save hundreds of pounds a year under a proposal by the centre right Onward think-tank.
A report by the think-tank has called for student loan repayments for healthcare staff to be cancelled after its research found higher preventable deaths in hospitals in coastal areas.
It argued that recruiting more doctors and nurses in those regions, using a loan forgiveness scheme, would reduce the proportion of preventable deaths in patients.
Early preventable deaths are 15 per cent higher in coastal areas of England compared to the rest of the country, the report found.
In coastal communities in the north-east, early deaths are 43 per cent higher than the national average.
For every member of professional clinical staff at a coastal hospital, there are an average of 775 patients, compared to 744 across England.
A student loan forgiveness scheme for coastal healthcare workers would save medics saving around £650 a year in their first placement year.
Jenevieve Treadwell, senior researcher at Onward, said: “Unless the Government can recruit and retain NHS staff to work in seaside areas, the number of early, preventable deaths will continue to rise.
“Offering a student loan forgiveness scheme is one sensible step to ensure left-behind coastal areas get the healthcare they deserve.”
Sally-Ann Hart, the Tory MP for Hastings and Rye, said: “Addressing health disparities and recruiting healthcare professionals to underserved coastal communities like Hastings requires a multi-targeted approach, including financial incentives.
“Onward’s proposal for a student loan forgiveness scheme for healthcare workers who serve coastal communities is a welcome idea, which I hope the Government considers.”
