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Written by Rabab Fathi Sunday, January 7, 2024 06:00 AM
As a strike by junior doctors in Britain’s National Health Service, which began last Wednesday and ends on Monday, continues, British health officials have warned that thousands of cancer patients could die early if ministers and junior doctors do not urgently resolve the bitter row over their pay, according to the newspaper. The British Guardian.
Oncologists and cancer doctors are becoming increasingly concerned and frustrated about the devastating impact of NHS strikes on care and treatment. Cancer appointments, treatments and operations have been canceled for tens of thousands of patients since the strikes began about 13 months ago.
The newspaper explained that the current six-day strike is the ninth time that junior doctors have stopped working in the past year and the longest to strike the health service since its founding in 1948.
But with no end in sight to the dispute between the government and junior doctors, who make up around half the medical workforce, and doctors refusing to rule out further strikes, oncologists and cancer leaders told The Guardian that the stalemate unnecessarily reduces patients’ chances of survival.
Their intervention would increase pressure on Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, Victoria Atkins, the Health Secretary, and the British Medical Association’s Junior Doctors Committee to resume talks and agree a deal.
Cancer leaders said patients diagnosed with less survivable cancers such as lung, liver, brain, esophagus, pancreas and stomach were particularly at risk of disruption caused by the knocks. They said that any delay in treatment in these cases could severely limit their options and mean worse survival prospects.
Figures obtained through freedom of information requests showed that by September last year, around 36,000 cancer patient appointments had been postponed due to strike action since industrial action began in December 2022.
A second tranche of data, also obtained under freedom of information laws, revealed that thousands of cancer patients had their crucial hospital appointments canceled at least three times last year amid widespread disruption to the NHS.
Dr Ian Walker, executive director of policy at Cancer Research UK, said it was important to resolve the long-standing dispute over pay urgently.
He said: “We remain concerned that continued industrial action will cause further disruption for cancer patients. It is important that we see a quick resolution to the current strike, but alongside this, the government must provide additional investment in NHS staff and diagnostic equipment, along with “Reform.”
Last Wednesday, a six-day strike by junior doctors began in Britain – the longest in the history of the National Health Service for 75 years.
The patients’ association said patient safety could be at risk because hospitals had too few staff to handle the strike, which began at 7 a.m. It has urged ministers and the British Medical Association (BMA) to bring in mediators to help settle the long-running dispute over junior doctors’ pay after negotiations ended before Christmas in an impasse.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, director of the National Health Service in England, said: “It is likely that many thousands of appointments will be canceled or rescheduled again, and this is in addition to the 1.2 million appointments that have been canceled over more than a year now with periods of workers’ strikes.”
Powis said 13 months of strikes by doctors, nurses and other staff had “had a massive impact on the NHS”. This week’s strike will be the 10th different strike by junior doctors since March. By the time next Tuesday rolls around, they will have refused to work for 34 days in total.
The previous 28 days of operation have resulted in the rescheduling of nearly one million outpatient appointments and operations.
