THE biggest strike action by hospital medics in NHS history will harm patients and force appointments to be cancelled, the boss of the Bristol Royal Infirmary has warned.

Radiographers are walking out on Tuesday, October 3, joining thousands of consultants and junior doctors on picket lines across England.

The 24-hour industrial action comes during a spate of strike days over pay, with consultants downing tools on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 19 and 20, and junior doctors walking out on the Wednesday and continuing until Friday, September 22.

Consultants and junior doctors will then jointly take industrial action from Monday to Wednesday, October 2-4.

Only “Christmas Day” levels of cover will be provided as the vast bulk of non-urgent care endures a mass shutdown.

It follows previous strikes over the summer by all three medical groups of staff who work for University Hospitals Bristol & Weston Hospitals NHS Trust (UHBW), which runs the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol Children’s Hospital and Weston General.

UHBW chief executive Eugine Yafele said there was a “huge cumulative impact” on the consequences for patients and the number of procedures that would have to be postponed or cancelled.

He told a trust board meeting: “One of the things that no amount of planning can eradicate is the harm to patients.

“This is not just physical harm but waiting for a procedure when you’re in pain or when you’re not certain whether it’s going to happen has a psychological impact.

“So we will continue to plan as best we can but this will be difficult.

“The delays to patient care is regrettable and we will do our best to minimise impact.”

He said the industrial action was hampering UHBW’s ability to deliver the care and treatment it had planned this year.

“We will meet the expectations around waiting times but with each successive day of strike action it’s getting harder,” Mr Yafele said.

“We will continue to watch over this and ensure there is appropriate risk mitigation but the board really needs to understand it’s becoming a harder challenge to have as much confidence as we did at the beginning of the year.”

He said the British Medical Association had successfully re-balloted junior doctors and now had a mandate to continue industrial action until February.

Mr Yafele told the meeting on Tuesday, September 12: “The impact on our patients and delays in their treatment remain a concern but we are assured that we have provided safe care for our In-patients during periods of action. 

“There are delays in out-patient appointments and elective operations as a consequence of the strikes, but the operational teams continue to programme our recovery agenda.

“We recognise that this adds stress to our patients and their families. 

“Equally our staff are feeling increasingly tired covering gaps and catching up with cancelled services.”

He said trade unions had won a recent judicial review to reinstate a rule that prevented employers using agency staff to cover strikes.

Mr Yafele said that following the judge’s quashing order, UHBW ensured that it complied with the regulations and no agency workers were taken on to fill gaps created by staff on strike in August.

“The use of agency staff in these circumstances is now an offence and a criminal one, with accountability resting on individual directors,” the chief executive added.

Radiographers, who carry out X-rays, MRI and CT scans, breast screening and ultrasounds to diagnose major illnesses including cancer, have rejected a five per cent pay rise offer from the Government.