The chief executive of an acute hospital trust in England explains why this week’s strike by junior doctors will have a huge impact and potentially put patients at risk but also why they support their action
In terms of running an acute hospital, junior doctors being on strike is much more serious – much more impactful – than the recent strikes by ambulance workers. On an ambulance strike day, if someone could get themselves to hospital there was a fully functioning emergency department, with fully functioning specialist medicine departments behind it able to provide the right care. But this time, although hospitals will be open, they’ll be running in a very different way to normal.
That’s because junior doctors are so vital to hospitals functioning properly. They are integral to the basic medical management of the medical services they work in. I think people misunderstand how important “junior” doctors are and also how skilled they are. They’re not just fresh out of medical school. They are often doctors with 10 years’ experience or more.
