Junior doctors’ strike: More than 6,000 operations and appointments cancelled across Merseyside hospitals

The impact of the four-day junior doctors’ strike on each hospital trust in Merseyside is laid bare by new NHS figures.

More than 195,000 operations and appointments had to be cancelled at acute trusts across the UK, due to the unprecedented walkout by members of the British Medical Association (BMA) from April 11 to 15. A further 4,000 appointments at mental health trusts and more than 500 community appointments also had to be called off.

The number of cancellations eclipses the 175,000 called off during the previous, shorter, junior doctors’ strike in March, but is lower than the 285,000 cancellations the government had been anticipating.

In Merseyside, 6,351 operations and appointments at acute trusts were cancelled, including inpatient, day-case and outpatient appointments.

The BMA has demanded a 35% pay rise for junior doctors, which Health Secretary Steve Barclay labelled ‘unrealistic’.

The impact of the junior doctors’ strike on Merseyside hospitals:

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital:

• Inpatient and day-case operations and procedures rescheduled: 46
• Outpatient appointments rescheduled: 481

Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:

• Inpatient and day-case operations and procedures rescheduled: 4
• Outpatient appointments rescheduled: 144

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:

• Inpatient and day-case operations and procedures rescheduled: 287
• Outpatient appointments rescheduled: 2672

Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust:

• Inpatient and day-case operations and procedures rescheduled: 41
• Outpatient appointments rescheduled: 226

Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust:

• Inpatient and day-case operations and procedures rescheduled: 4
• Outpatient appointments rescheduled: 126

St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust:

• Inpatient and day-case operations and procedures rescheduled: 0
• Outpatient appointments rescheduled: 587

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust:

• Inpatient and day-case operations and procedures rescheduled: 0
• Outpatient appointments rescheduled: 48

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust:

• Inpatient and day-case operations and procedures rescheduled: 15
• Outpatient appointments rescheduled: 132

Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:

• Inpatient and day-case operations and procedures rescheduled: 154
• Outpatient appointments rescheduled: 1384

What’s been said

Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, of the British Medical Association’s junior doctors committee said: “Junior doctors know all too well the frustration of patients waiting too long for care, and with a waiting list of 7.2 million in England, we are facing difficult conversations with them every single day.

“These millions of patients are not in this position because of strikes though. Persistent under-resourcing of the health service and under-valuing staff – exacerbated by a pandemic – mean we simply don’t have the workforce and capacity to provide the high-quality and timely care that patients need and deserve.

NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “Our staff now have an immense amount of work to catch up on hundreds of thousands of appointments, all while continuing to make progress on tackling the backlog of people who have been waiting the longest for treatment. We have now seen nearly half a million appointments rescheduled over the last five months, and with each strike, it becomes harder. While our staff are doing all they possibly can to manage the disruption, it is becoming increasingly difficult and the impact on patients and staff will unfortunately continue to worsen.”