NHS braced for fresh pressure in coming days, say health chiefs

Health leaders have warned the NHS is set to come under fresh pressure in the coming days after a drop in 999 calls in some areas during the strike by ambulance workers in England and Wales.

More than 10,000 ambulance workers walked out on Wednesday, as ministers and trade unions intensified their war of words over who is to blame for industrial action by NHS staff.

Health leaders had warned they could not guarantee patient safety ahead of the ambulance workers’ strike, but the industrial action appeared to have had less immediate impact than feared. NHS insiders said that in some areas, there had been a marked reduction in 999 calls by the public.

Ambulance and hospital bosses are now braced for resurgent demand putting pressure on the NHS, after also dealing with strike action by nurses on Tuesday.

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents health organisations across the UK, said although this week’s strikes were drawing to a close, the disruption was far from over.

She added: “The fallout from strike action is likely to spill over into the coming days due to the knock-on impact across different parts of the health and care system, the need to reschedule elective and outpatient appointments, and the anticipation of a return to very high numbers of emergency calls.

“There is particular concern about patients who may have delayed seeking care — and whose conditions have deteriorated — now coming forward for treatment.”

Under local agreements reached between NHS bosses and unions, ambulance workers responded on Wednesday to 999 calls ranked life-threatening “category one”, as well as serious “category two” emergencies.

But health secretary Steve Barclay accused the unions of making a “conscious choice to inflict harm on patients” by not agreeing comprehensive cover of category two calls.

The three unions representing striking ambulance workers — Unite, Unison and the GMB — reacted furiously to his comments.

Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, said: “To say that ambulance unions have taken a conscious choice to inflict harm on patients is a blatant lie.”

Christina McAnea, general secretary of Unison, said the government was putting people’s lives at risk by refusing to negotiate on pay.

“Unless the government commits to a proper wage rise this year, action will likely escalate in the new year,” she added.

Barclay doubled down on the government’s refusal to renegotiate on this year’s pay deal for NHS staff.

He defended the government’s stance of in July accepting recommendations by an independent review body, under which most NHS workers in England received a flat-rate pay increase of £1,400, backdated to April. This represents an increase of about 4 per cent in the average basic pay of workers.

The unions representing ambulance workers want a pay rise at least matching inflation, which stood at 10.7 per cent in November.

The Royal College of Nursing, which organised strikes by nurses on Tuesday and last week in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is demanding a 19 per cent pay rise.

The RCN said on Wednesday its members in Scotland had rejected the Scottish government’s pay offer, which would have resulted in an average increase of 7.5 per cent. The union will announce dates for industrial action in the new year.

NHS insiders suggested the public had heeded warnings by ministers and officials not to overburden ambulance services during the strike.

You are seeing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is most likely due to being offline or JavaScript being disabled in your browser.

One person said the reduced number of 999 calls had “saved the day”, while another stated things had not gone as badly as feared, crediting work undertaken by hospitals to clear beds and support from the military and the voluntary sector.

However, the second person added there had still been some long delays in responding to 999 calls ranked category two — which include suspected strokes and chest pain. Some people had to wait two and a half hours for an ambulance to arrive, when the target time is 18 minutes.

Eight of England’s 10 ambulance services have declared critical incidents this week: a status triggered when they are close to being overwhelmed by demand.

The NHS Confederation, another body representing health organisations, highlighted NHS England data showing more than 11,500 staff had participated in the RCN-led strike on Tuesday, resulting in more than 2,100 non-urgent operations and 11,600 outpatient appointments being postponed.