THE NHS is facing another period of disruption this week, with potentially thousands more appointments and procedures postponed due to the latest round of industrial action by junior doctors.
From 7am on Friday August 11 until 7am on Tuesday August 15, junior doctors across England will be on strike, as the NHS enters the ninth month of industrial action across its services.
This is the fifth strike from junior doctors, meaning services have seen over 450 hours without a third of the medical workforce over the last five months – the equivalent of 19 full days.
Following a recent ruling by the High Court, employers can no longer use agency staff to fill in for striking workers during industrial action, which means some of the cover arrangements used during previous strikes will not be possible.
However, the ruling does not apply to a hospital’s own ‘bank’ staff, and NHS Employers has provided guidance to trusts on this issue.
