Junior doctors have been accused of “losing the plot” and are set to strike again – just as the flu season hits.

Thousands of resident doctors, previously junior doctors, are due to go on strike across England from 7am on Friday as a dispute over pay continues.

As a result, health bosses have warned the NHS may have to cut frontline staff as well as appointments and operations for patients during the strikes.

The five-day industrial action will be the 13th walkout by doctors since March 2023, and the last strike in July is estimated to have cost the NHS £300million.

Blasting the strikes, Wes Streeting condemned the trade union’s “leadership – that has truly lost the plot”.

The Health Secretary added that the country “expects leadership, not chaos” from the British Medical Association (BMA).

NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor said: “There is no doubt that patients will bear the brunt of this disruption, with tens of thousands of tests, appointments and operations likely to be delayed or cancelled.

“NHS leaders understand how frustrating this will be for them being left waiting in pain or discomfort, not knowing when their treatment will be rescheduled.

“With flu already beginning to bite there is a real risk these strikes will leave the NHS limping into a very difficult winter at a time when it is trying to recover performance and implement vital long-term reforms.”

Some 48 per cent of resident doctors wanted to cancel the upcoming industrial action, with only 33 per cent thinking it should go ahead.

Mr Taylor added that the BMA “must recognise that these strikes are disproportionate, given the current financial environment and the fact resident doctors have already had one of the biggest pay rises in the public sector.”

He continued: “We would urge them to call them off, moderate their demands to something achievable and re-enter negotiations.”

DOCTORS ON STRIKE – READ MORE: 

• ‘Get in the real world!’ Ex-Labour adviser slams doctor strikes as ‘deeply offensive’
• Wes Streeting accuses BMA members of ‘dangerous extremism’ after urging GPs to flood A&Es with patients
• Consultants cancel clinics while charging £2,500 to cover resident doctor walkout

Mr Streeting has refused to move on the issue of pay for resident doctors, saying they have received an almost 30 per cent bump over the last three years alone.

But the BMA claimed once inflation is taken into account, doctors need a 26 per cent pay uplift to “restore” their earnings.

The union also insisted that doctors must not be called off the picket lines to cover planned NHS work during the strike while discussing the possibility of “derogations”.

The exceptions see doctors asked to leave the strike and work because patient safety is at risk.

However, Dr Tom Dolphin, BMS council chair, and Dr Emma Runswick, deputy chair, told hospital leaders that derogations are “not in place to avoid disruption caused by industrial action but to ensure that in unexpected and extreme circumstances patients will continue to receive safe care”.

A letter from the pair said: “Derogations will not be granted if planning has not occurred to incentivise non-striking doctors to cover emergency work, or if non-emergency work is continuing.”

Earlier this week, NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey told hospital leaders to deliver at least 95 per cent of planned activity despite the strikes.