Nurses strikes may ‘hit the end of the road this week’ after thousands fewer joined walkout

Support for industrial action among junior doctors appears to have plummeted after thousands fewer joined the latest strike.

More than 5,500 fewer junior doctors walked out each day than in their first wave of industrial action.

And the Royal College of Nursing admitted for the first time that its industrial action could ‘hit the end of the road this week’.

Health bosses were forced to cancel 108,602 appointments and operations when junior doctors withdrew care for three days last week.

It took the total number of postponements as a result of strike action by the likes of junior doctors, nurses, and physiotherapists to 651,232 since December.

Support for industrial action among junior doctors appears to have plummeted after thousands fewer joined the latest strike

Health bosses were forced to cancel 108,602 appointments and operations when junior doctors withdrew care for three days last week (File image)

However, while an average of 28,708 doctors below the rank of consultant took part in strike action each day between March 13 and March 15, this plummeted by a fifth (19.3 per cent) to just 23,158 last week.

The figure during the wave from April 11 to April 14 was 26,145. Notably, last week’s peak figure of 24,407 on Wednesday was fewer than every day during the previous rounds. It suggests the doctors are growing weary, can no longer afford to lose pay or are concerned that taking too much time off work will impact on their career progress.

Meanwhile, consultants and radiographers are being balloted over their own industrial action, which could see disruption within the NHS drag on for months.