NHS bosses have urged union barons to tone down doctors’ strikes to protect cancer and heart disease patients.
A three-day joint strike by thousands of junior doctors and consultants in the British Medical Association ends on Thursday morning.
Junior doctors and consultants in the BMA held a rally in Manchester during the Conservative Party conferenceRex
Top NHS England executives, including medical director Sir Stephen Powis and chief nurse Dame Ruth May, pleaded with the BMA in a letter on Tuesday.
They said shift cover has been “insufficient” to keep patients safe and 999 responses are getting longer because hospitals are short-staffed.
The damning letter said: “We are becoming increasingly concerned that combined periods of industrial action are impacting on our ability to manage individuals who require time-sensitive urgent treatment.
“For example cardiac, cancer or cardiovascular patients, or women needing urgent caesarean sections.”
It added: “We are extremely concerned that Christmas Day cover is insufficient to ensure appropriate levels of patient safety.”
Prof Powis and Ms May said the plans for strike exemptions need to be improved.
Ministers plan to raise the legal minimum number of doctors who must stay on shift during walkouts.
It came as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak branded the BMA’s strikes “all about politics, not patients” in his conference speech.
Protesting doctors sang karaoke at a rally outside the Tory party meeting in Manchester.
The PM called the union’s demands “massive” and “unaffordable”.
Writing back to the NHS, BMA strikes leader Prof Phil Banfield accused the health service of “poor planning”.
He said: “I do not agree that the Christmas and Boxing Day model of industrial action is unsafe.
“We have always been open to discussing ways in which together we can maintain patient safety during industrial action.
“We communicated this directly to colleagues at NHS England.”