Junior doctors' strike cost Milton Keynes hospital £1m, says boss

The strike was part of national action across England

The six-day junior doctors' strike cost a hospital about £1m in "loss of income and increased costs", according to its chief executive.

Joe Harrison, of Milton Keynes University Hospital, said it had to cancel 200 outpatient appointments and more than 100 procedures.

The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling for a 35% pay increase to match rising costs and inflation.

The government said it was not prepared to negotiate during strike action.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said she wanted to find a "fair and reasonable solution to end the strikes once and for all".

The strike began on 3 January and ended at 07:00 GMT.

Many outpatient appointments and procedures were cancelled during the six-day strike action, Joe Harrison said

Mr Harrison said the £1m figure came from "a combination of having to pay consultants more to cover services and a number of patients we haven't treated".

"We are gradually bringing waiting lists down, but we know that for every strike action that takes place that does stop elective planned operations taking place," he added.

• What are junior doctors paid - and how much to settle?

• Give us credible offer and we'll end strikes - BMA

• Hospital maternity services praised by inspectors

He said senior doctors, nurses and other professionals had been "pulling together" to cover behind the junior doctors, but this put "extra pressure on them and on the system".

"At the moment we are coping well with that," he said.

"We don't know how long these strikes are going to go on for but clearly, the longer they go on, the more likely it is that those will create problems in the service."

Junior doctors received a pay rise averaging nearly 9% this financial year - and during talks with the government at the end of last year, the option of an extra 3% on top of that was discussed.

But those talks ended in early December without a deal being reached.