Critically ill patients ‘will inevitably die’ due to junior doctors’ strike

Critically ill patients “will inevitably die” because hospitals are having to cancel surgery as a direct result of next week’s junior doctors’ strike in England, leading heart experts have warned.

There were bound to be fatalities among people with serious heart problems whose precarious health meant they were “a ticking timebomb” and needed surgery as soon as possible, they said. They added that patients would face an even greater risk than usual of being harmed or dying if their time-sensitive operation was delayed because NHS heart units would have too few medics available during the four-day stoppage by junior doctors to run normal operating lists.

The trio of cardiac experts are senior doctors at the Royal Brompton and Harefield specialist heart and lung hospitals in London. Those facilities, plus the cardiac unit at St Thomas’ hospital in the capital, have between them postponed between 30 and 40 operations they were due to conduct next week on “P2” patients, whose fragile health means they need surgery within 28 days.

“It is no exaggeration to say that delaying surgery for this group [P2s] will result in harm. For some, this may be life-changing. For others, it may mean premature death,” said Dr Richard Grocott-Mason, a cardiologist who is also the chief executive of the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 4 April 2023