Strike takes toll on QA appointments
Almost 700 appointments and operations were post-posed at Queen Alexandra Hospital as a result of the junior doctor strikes earlier this month, new figures have shown.
A total of 673 elective operations and outpatient appointments were cancelled at the hospital in Cosham between April 11 to 14 as a result of four days of strike action by junior doctors in a despite over pay and conditions.
Hospital trust figures show that on April 11 131 outpatient appointments were postponed, followed by 129 appointments on April 12, 160 on April 13 and 79 on April 14.
On top of that 44 elective procedures were postponed on April 11, 59 on April 12, 33 on April 13 and 38 on April 14.
The total number of staff taking part in the industrial action has also been revealed with 231 staff absent from work as a result of the strikes on April 11, 238 on April 12, 226 on April 13 and 219 on April 14.
Figures from NHS England show there were the equivalent of 593 full-time junior doctors working at the hospital trust as of December – 54.3 per cent of its 1,092 doctors.
A spokesperson for Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust said: ‘The recent industrial action has seen a number of elective procedures and outpatient appointments having to be rescheduled.
‘We have been in touch with all the patients affected by this and have now offered new appointments.
‘Whilst pay is a matter for Government and the trade unions, we value our staff and want to see a resolution as soon as possible to ensure we can continue to focus on providing high quality patient care.’