Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, fears this winter could be “as tough as the pandemic” for under-pressure hospitals.
The NHS could plunge into its biggest crisis in years over the doctors’ strike and an early flu season, a health service boss warned. Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, fears this winter could be “as tough as the pandemic” for under-pressure hospitals.
He warned that swamped A&E departments were set to see a record demand from people with the bug. It comes after figures showed flu cases are three times higher than usual for this time of year.
Mackey said: “There is likely to be more footfall through A&E this winter than any on record, with a flu season on the horizon that is likely to be prolonged and difficult.
“This demand, alongside striking staff, means that in a few months’ time many of you will face challenges that could feel like those tough moments we all went through during the pandemic.”
It comes as The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling a strike of resident doctors from November 14-19 in a spat over pay and jobs.
The BMA yesterday (Fri) branded the government’s suggested 2.5% pay rise for NHS workers in 2026 as “indefensible”.
BMA council chairman Dr Tom Dolphin fumed: “After more than a decade of pay erosion, spiralling workloads, and an NHS in a state of near chaos, this is a deliberate choice to devalue those who hold the health service together, a profound disregard for our doctors and the state of the profession.”
Meanwhile, Unison’s head of health Helga Pile said a 2.5% rise was an “insult”, adding: “Yet again ministers are trying to get away with giving staff a way-below-inflation pay rise.
“It will go down badly right across the NHS, just as workers are bracing themselves for the challenges of winter.”
Elsewhere, a report warned some elderly patients are dying in hospital corridors.
One in three over-90s now have to wait at least 12 hours in A&E, the probe by charity Age UK found.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said: “For far too long, our NHS has been trapped in a recurring winter crisis…That’s why this government started planning for winter earlier than before.”
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