It's thought hospitals have spent more than £1 billion ($1.22 billion) covering doctor's strikes in the ongoing industrial action.
Labor unions — who argue pay has risen far behind inflation — say that better pay will help the NHS fill vacancies and keep existing staff employed in its overstretched workforce. Already facing growing demand from patients, the service will need to be stronger than ever as the population ages.
With the toll of each strike putting extra pressure on long surgery waiting lists, industry leaders have called for resolution once and for all. "The immediate concern has to be with patients — more than a million and counting — whose care or treatment has been delayed.” This tally, she said, captures appointments that have already been made. But “thousands more patients will be affected because [hospitals] are simply not booking in care for strike days known well in advance.”