Data on last week's industrial action by junior doctors and consultants is here: NHS England » Potential industrial action in the NHS
For the first time in NHS history, both sets of staff took joint action, which means that since strikes began, the cumulative total of acute inpatient and outpatient appointments rescheduled has now exceeded 1 million (1,015,067).
Consultants began their strike action on Tuesday (19th) and were joined by junior doctors on Wednesday (20th). Last week's latest action saw 129,913 inpatient and outpatient appointments rescheduled. At the peak of the action, on Wednesday 20th September, there were 26,802 staff absent from work due to industrial action.
NHS national medical director for secondary care and transformation Dr Vin Diwakar recently said:
“These figures reveal just part of the relentless impact of strikes over the last ten months with the number of appointments rescheduled hitting more than one million, with pressure on services increasing as junior doctors and consultants took joint action last week for the first time in the history of the NHS.
“We know that each appointment rescheduled is incredibly difficult for patients and families, and as we prepare for further joint action next week, there is precious little time for staff and services to recover.
“We will continue to prioritise emergency care and patient safety and as ever, people should continue to access the care they need - A&E and 999 in life-threatening emergencies and NHS 111 online for other health concerns.”
Background
NHS England's cumulative total for appointments rescheduled refers to acute inpatient and outpatient appointments only and does not include community and mental health appointments. This is to remove the possibility of a small amount of double counting of appointments where there are trusts who provide both types of care.