NHS clinics grind to a halt again today in the seventh doctors’ strike this year.
British Medical Association consultants are downing tools on August 24 and 25, dragging out the bank holiday slowdown to five days.
The union also announced yet another strike for three days in October.
More than 900,000 appointments will have been postponed this year by the time the latest protest is over.
Sir Julian Hartley, chief of NHS Providers which represents hospital bosses, said: “A two-day strike just before a bank holiday weekend, and when many staff are on summer holidays, is a massive headache for the NHS.”
Consultants earning an average £134,000 per year are campaigning for a bigger pay rise and reform of their pay review system.
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The BMA says they are being “persistently devalued” and the Government has not met them for five months, showing it is “not serious about the NHS”.
Ministers say constant strikes are making NHS waiting lists worse, with a record 7.6million people stuck in queues in England.
Around 66,000 hospital appointments and operations were moved as a result of senior medics' last industrial action in July.
Consultants are so high-ranking that it can be impossible for other staff to cover their shifts.
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NHS England’s Dr Vin Diwakar said: “This latest action will again hit the NHS hard, with almost all routine care being affected.
“Many staff are taking annual leave, so teams are already stretched, and warm weather usually leads to an additional rise in demand, so we ask people to take precautions.”
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: “I am concerned and disappointed that the BMA has gone ahead with this industrial action.
“We have given consultants a six per cent pay rise which means average NHS earnings for consultants of £134,000, on top of a pension where generous tax changes.
“This pay award is final and I urge the BMA to call an end to strikes.”
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