Ipswich and Colchester hospitals boss urges quick solution to doctors' row

Junior doctors on strike outside Ipswich Hospital say the dispute is not just about pay

A hospital boss has called for a "quick solution" to the row over pay for junior doctors as a four-day walkout gets under way.

The strike action across England is expected to be the most disruptive in NHS history, with more than a quarter of a million appointments and operations cancelled.

The British Medical Association is asking for a 35% pay rise.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said it was "not fair or reasonable".

Nick Hulme, the chief executive of Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, said fewer junior doctors had so far joined the picket line, compared to last month's strike action, due to concerns over patient safety.

But he said all outpatient appointments had been cancelled and there would be ongoing disruption as those patients, who had "already waited too long after Covid", would have to rebook.

Nick Hulme, the chief executive of Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, urged the government and union to "get around the table" and strike a deal

"We need a quick solution, it needs to be affordable, it needs to be fair and the junior doctors themselves also need to believe they are getting a fair deal," said Mr Hulme.

"I would implore everybody to get around the table, have the conversations, so we can get back to doing the work that we love doing in the NHS for the people who we serve in our communities."

Over the four-day walkout, he said his job was to make sure patients were "as safe as they can be under these circumstances".

"It's about nurses working differently, therapists working differently and mainly relying on our consultants, the senior doctors, to step down into those junior doctors' roles to provide safe care," he said.

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Meanwhile, staff on the picket line said they were striking not just for pay but to keep staff in the profession.

They said a number of colleagues had left for other jobs or to go abroad.

Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England's national medical director, said it would take "weeks" for services to recover from the strike action

Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England's national medical director, said the walkout would be "the most disruptive industrial action in NHS history".

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme as the walkout began, he warned it would take weeks to recover from the strikes as "services will undoubtedly be affected".

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the 35% pay rise the British Medical Association is asking for was "not fair or reasonable"

Mr Barclay said the government wanted to reach a "fair and reasonable settlement with junior doctors".

"We stand ready to have meaningful and constructive talks with them," he said.

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