Junior doctors strike is ‘toughest week NHS faces’ says Providers chief

Junior doctors strike is ‘toughest week NHS faces’ says Providers chiefSource: BBC Breakfast

Transcript

00:00 It's going to be really tough. It's a significant moment. It's about the scale and the duration.

00:06 So it's the longest strike we've ever faced. And of course junior doctors are such an important

00:10 part of the NHS. At a time, and this week, you know, I ran a trust for many years and

00:17 it is without doubt the toughest week the NHS faces immediately after the Christmas

00:23 and New Year period because of the pressures, the demands, and of course we've got flu,

00:28 we've got COVID, that will heap a huge amount of pressure on NHS organisations at a time

00:33 when they're working incredibly hard to try and reduce those waiting lists and times for

00:39 patients. So there's going to be an impact on patients that will be significant. The

00:42 vast majority of planned operations, appointments and so on, will have to be stood down. Consultants

00:49 will be covering the work of junior doctors. And of course at a time when there's a lot

00:54 of COVID and flu about, that can affect staff as well as patients. So the challenge of filling

00:59 those rotas will be significant for a lot of organisations.

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