Resident Doctors: Strikes
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of appointments that were cancelled as a result of doctor strikes in Lancashire.
Answered by Karin Smyth
On 22 March 2026, the Government made a formal offer to the British Medical Association (BMA) Resident Doctors Committee (RDC) to seek to resolve their dispute. This was the product of joint negotiation with the BMA RDC officers. This offer was rejected by the committee on 25 March and the BMA RDC immediately called industrial action for 7 to 13 April 2026. In the last year, the BMA RDC have called four rounds of strike action in England.
NHS England records the number of rescheduled appointments and workforce absences during strike actions, including those in Lancashire. The latest data for April is pending, but data on the from the previous three rounds in 2025 is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/preparedness-for-potential-industrial-action-in-the-nhs/
Due to the dedication of National Health Service staff, the NHS delivered almost 95% of planned activity during the five days of strike action in December 2025, similar to the levels of activity during the November strikes and surpassing levels in July.
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