Consultants have vowed to scupper Rishi Sunak’s pledge to cut waiting lists by holding more strikes unless he meets their pay demands.
Senior doctors at the British Medical Association admitted they are using desperate patients as ‘leverage’ in their pursuit of a 35 per cent rise.
Speaking at the union’s annual conference in Liverpool, the medics issued a thinly veiled threat to the Prime Minister, warning he has ‘7.4million reasons to talk to us’.
It comes as waiting lists in England stand at a record 7.4million, with over 650,000 appointments and operations cancelled due to industrial action since December.
Mr Sunak has made cutting NHS waits one his five priorities as leader, which also includes halving inflation and stopping migrants crossing the Channel on small boats.
The number of people waiting for routine hospital treatment in England soared to a record 7.42million (red line) in April, figures show. More than 370,000 people in the queue for routine ops, such as hip replacements, were waiting for more than a year (yellow bars)
NHS funding is has risen sharply in recent years, with a total budget of £152.6billion in 2022/23, some £28.4billion more than in 2016/17 at 2022/23 prices. The graph does not reflect the extra £2.4billion pledged by the Government in its long-term workforce plan
Consultants will strike in England on July 20 and 21, despite receiving a 4.5 per cent increase last year, taking their average earnings to £128,000.
Junior doctors will picket from July 13 to 18, in the longest walkout in the history of the NHS.
In a worrying development, the consultants also refused to rule out holding future strikes at the same time as their junior colleagues, which would pose a serious threat to patient safety.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, implored doctors and the Government to end their bitter dispute, as she warned that strikes ‘cannot drag on’ into the busy winter months.
She said patients are ‘heartbroken’ when appointments and operations are cancelled as a result of strikes, which pose a ‘real challenge’ to the service.
Asked if there was any hope of Mr Sunak meeting his waiting list pledge unless he sorts out pay, Dr Mike Henley, co-deputy chair of the BMA’s consultants committee, said: ‘No. None.’
He agreed the consultants hold ‘power’ and added: ‘It’s about leverage. We don’t want to use leverage. We just want a fair pay system which recruits and retains.
‘But we’ve been put in this position where sadly we have to use leverage. They have a political problem and we have an easy and fair solution.’
He said he felt ‘terrible’ that strikes would make waits worse but said: ‘We shouldn’t be put in this position should we. Patient’s shouldn’t be put in this position.
‘It’s highly problematic for government to have both junior doctors and consultants falling out with government. There needs to be a settlement.’
Dr Shanu Datta, the second of three deputies on the committee, said: ‘There are 7.4 million reasons why they [the government] should talk to us.’
Consultants are seeking a 35 per cent pay rise, which they say accounts for the real-terms reduction in their take home pay since 2008.
The proposals are detailed in the first NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan, which is supported by £2.4billion of Government funding
They also want the government to reform the pay review body the advises ministers on settlements, claiming it is no longer independent or fit for purpose.
Think tanks have contested the BMA’s calculations and say they also fail to account for beneficial changes to their pensions.
Dr Simon Walsh, the third co-deputy of the BMA’s consultants committee, confessed doctors are worried about public opinion turning against them as a result of strikes.
But he said: ‘We can’t be in a position where we’re frightened to do what we know is the right thing.
‘Unless we address this, the workforce crisis in consultants and the wider workforce will get worse.’
Apparently seeking to roll back on his colleagues’ earlier comments, he stressed: ‘I wouldn’t say we’re using patients as leverage because the reason the waiting lists are as they are is not the fault of doctors.’
Dr Henley said the government would not need to find an ‘enormous amount of money’ to fund their pay demands, as he called it a ‘political choice’.
‘There is always political money for all sorts of other things that need doing in other arenas and areas,’ he added.
‘Look at the wasted PPE etc. Money is out there when it needs to be found.
‘If you want a health service you’ve got to pay for the staff that are in it, right across the board ‘We will continue to take concerted action if there isn’t a sensible solution from government.’
Junior doctors will stage a full walkout later this month, including from A&E and cancer wards, while consultants will provide ‘Christmas Day cover’, meaning they will cancel non-urgent clinics but provide emergency care.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘We hugely value the work of NHS consultants.
‘We’ve been engaging with BMA Consultants Committee on their concerns and it is disappointing that BMA members have voted for strike action.
‘We stand ready to open talks again – we urge them to come to the negotiating table rather than proceeding with their proposed strike dates.
‘Strikes are hugely disruptive for patients and put pressure on other NHS staff, and we continue to call on the BMA to carefully consider the likely impact of any action on patients.’
Conciliation service Acas has said that it is ‘ready and prepared to help’ but the Government is refusing to enter talks with doctors while strikes are scheduled.
Mrs Pritchard said that the strikes, which are ‘pretty much back-to-back’ will pose a ‘real challenge’ for the NHS.
Earlier this week, the BMA threatened to strike ‘until the next general election and beyond’ and warned that other doctor groups could also stage walkouts, including GPs.
‘We are now eight months into the most disruptive, most significant period of industrial action in our history,’ Mrs Pritchard told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
‘That is now likely to get more challenging again, as we hit both junior doctors and consultants taking action.
‘In the middle of this month, we’ve got action planned seven out of eight days and it’s pretty much back-to-back so that will really challenge our system.
‘My job isn’t pay, that’s (for) the Government to do with unions, but my job is absolutely to work with unions and with the NHS to make sure that we are mitigating the risks to patients’ safety.’
She added: ‘We work with everyone to try and make sure that in the course of industrial action, we are focused on keeping patients safe and minimising disruption.
‘But the hard truth is this is now proving to be really very disruptive for patients.
‘We’ve had many hundreds of thousands appointments, procedures cancelled, rescheduled.
‘And you know, the next set of action is going to mean more of that.
‘It’s heartbreaking when you have an appointment cancelled when you have a procedure cancelled, particularly if you’ve been waiting a long time, and particularly if it’s not the first time that’s happened.
‘So I really would urge all sides to redouble their efforts to find a solution.
‘Last winter was the busiest on record and we cannot let strikes drag on into this winter.’
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