Long strike by British doctors: Around 2 million surgical appointments cancelled

Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) reports that British hospitals are currently only operating in “Christmas mode”.

In Great Britain, junior and senior doctors are back on strike from Monday. The longest strike to date is expected to last three days in a dispute over high wages.

Doctors from all regions are demanding significantly higher pay and better conditions. Unions rejected an offer based on the recommendation of an independent commission. So the Conservative government accuses NHS workers of “ripping off”. There are currently no new negotiations.

Britain’s chronically underfunded and understaffed National Health Service has been repeatedly rocked by waves of strikes for months, leading to historically high surgical appointments. Around two million surgical appointments are said to have already been canceled or postponed.

Expensive strike: A billion pounds to replace the strikes

Some clinics have paid doctors thousands of pounds per shift to maintain services during doctors’ strikes. A neurology department in Liverpool paid a total of £7,853 (€9,060) for an indefinite transfer in June, The Times newspaper reported on Monday.

In July, a 13-hour shift at a general surgery in Kent, south-east England, cost £6,247, with many clinics spending more than £3,000 per shift. By early August, the costs of the strike changes were in excess of a billion pounds.