Worcestershire Royal Hospital boss says junior doctors' strike to cause harm

The county’s hospital boss revealed the situation and called the pay dispute the “most worrying situation in his 37 years in the NHS."

Matthew Hopkins, chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said the trust had had to cancel "pretty much all" of the 4,500 hospital appointments in Worcestershire planned during the continuous 72-hour strike by junior doctors in March.

Mr Hopkins said safety in hospitals during the strikes was “untenable” for patients and staff.

READ MORE: All non-emergency surgery to move from Worcestershire Royal Hospital

“There inevitably will be harm,” he told councillors this month.

“I can’t sit here today and say there isn’t going to be some kind of consequence for patients, not least the psychological stress from preparing to come in for an appointment and then having it delayed.”

STRUGGLING: Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester (Image: Newsquest)

“We know how important those doctors are in running the hospital,” he added.

Mr Hopkins said he could not answer how many people he thought might die because of the strikes but admitted the hospital had been forced to cancel appointments for people who were very sick.

“We know how important those doctors are in running the hospital... Nobody wants to be in this situation but we are here and it’s deeply worrying.”

READ MORE: Worcestershire hospital boss 'fearing prison time' over A&E chaos

The previous week, the chief executive told the acute trust’s board that pay disputes and mounting waiting times had created the “most worrying situation in his 37 years in the NHS, by a long way.”

CONCERNED: Matthew Hopkins (Image: Newsquest)

“The impact on patients, staff and leaders in the NHS is untenable and the patient safety risks [during the strike] are also untenable,” he said.

The hospital chief executive said March’s industrial action, which did see most planned surgery at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and most operations at Kidderminster Hospital still go ahead, had caused “significant problems” for the trust in its bid to slash waiting times.

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Members of the British Medical Association say they will hold a four-day walkout in April in their fight to get a 35 per cent pay rise in England.

Mr Hopkins said an agreement was “absolutely critical” and called for a “swift and timely resolution.”

Dr Shivam Sharma, a BMA rep who used to work at the county’s hospital trust, said safety was an “absolute priority” but the reality was patients were already suffering “long before” any junior doctors went on strike.

STRIKING: Dr Shivam Sharma (Image: British Medical Assocation)

READ MORE: Worcestershire Royal's struggling A&E ran three times over capacity

“These long waits, exacerbated by the pandemic, are the result of workforce shortages and a continued refusal by the Government to invest in staff and capacity – which is the very reason why junior doctors took to the picket line this month and why we’re prepared to do so again in April,” he said.

These long waits, exacerbated by the pandemic, are the result of workforce shortages and a continued refusal by the Government to invest in staff and capacity.

“But more disruption can be avoided if the Government shows it is serious about valuing junior doctors and reversing 15 years of real-term pay cuts.”

READ MORE: Investigation finds staff brought to knees by worsening delays in Worcestershire's hospitals

Mr Hopkins, who will be giving up the chief executive role in Worcestershire for a similar job at a hospital trust in Essex, said a third of the trust’s junior doctors turned up for work on March 13 – the first day of a continuous 72-hour strike by junior doctors.

More than 4,500 outpatient appointments were cancelled across the three days