NHS consultants warn they can wreck Rishi Sunak’s pledge to cut waiting lists if they don’t get a pay rise.
Strike leaders said there is “no hope” of ministers bringing down the 7.4million-patient backlog during industrial action, with the first walkout planned this month.
AlamyWithout a pay rise, striking NHS consultants warn they can wreck Rishi Sunak’s pledge to cut waiting lists[/caption]
Dr Shanu Datta, of the British Medical Association, said: “There’s 7.4million reasons why they should talk to us.”
It came as health minister Maria Caulfield admitted waiting lists will keep rising because of huge demand.
The fears hung over Wednesday’s celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the health service being founded.
Chief of NHS England, Amanda Pritchard, said: “We are eight months into the most disruptive, significant period of industrial action in our history.
“That is now likely to get more challenging again, as we hit both junior doctors and consultants taking action.
“We cannot let strikes drag on into this winter.”
Senior doctors in the BMA will go on strike on July 20 and 21 in a row over pay.
They said at the union’s conference this week that only a “suitable” pay offer – to boost salaries that start at £88,000 per year – will avoid the walkout.
Members of the BMA’s consultants committee have come out less hardline than the junior doctors, who are demanding a 35 per cent increase.
But they will “continue to take action” and call off operations and treatments until they get a deal.
Dr Mike Henley, deputy chair of the committee, said he has had to reschedule some cancer patients’ treatments for the July strike.
He said: “We’ve been put in a position where, sadly, we have to use leverage.”
Meanwhile ministers admitted they expect the waiting list, which is at 7.4m in England, to keep rising before it falls.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged in January to reduce the backlog before the end of the year but it has risen every month since.
Health minister Maria Caulfield said yesterday: “That probably will go up higher because we are offering more procedures.
“But the length of time people are waiting for their procedures is actually going down and that’s what matters to patients.”