Doctors were urged by London’s NHS chief to call off their strike in the run-up to Christmas as a superflu wave sweeps through the capital.
Dr Chris Streather, medical director for the NHS in the city, said “industrial action now is the wrong thing to do for the public of London”.
The latest walkout by resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, will take place from 7am on December 17 until December 22.
But Dr Streather stressed that hospitals already face the triple pressure from staff being off sick due to the flu, dealing with the huge wave of the virus, and as they try to get patients off wards and home to avoid them having to stay in during the Christmas period.
In an interview with the Standard, he said: “So there are three reasons why it’s really bad timing.
“I would very much like resident doctors to rethink and enter into talks about solving this dispute without resorting to industrial action.”
The NHS chief added: “There is a lot we need to do to improve the lives of resident doctors and we need to do that with some urgency and take it seriously.
“But I think industrial action now is the wrong thing to do for the public of London.”
Dr Streather also urged Londoners to stay at home, rather than head into work using the Tube, trains or buses, if they have flu-like symptoms.
He also strongly encouraged them to miss Christmas parties if they are coughing or sneezing rather than risk passing on the virus to friends, family and colleagues.
The huge wave of flu, with hospitalisation in London having hit triple the number as last year, is being driven by a far more contagious variant, a ‘drifted’ influenza A(H3N2) strain, also now known as ‘subclade K’.
Health chiefs are urging people who are eligible for the flu jab on the NHS, children aged 2 to 17, pregnant women, the over 65s and individuals with some specific health conditions which makes them vulnerable, to have the vaccine “straightaway”.
Viruses spread quicker in London compared to other regions due to the high public transport use, high density population and as it has some of the most deprived communities in the country where people may find it harder to access vaccinations compared to wealthier areas.
The doctors’ walkout will be the 14th strike since the long-running pay dispute started in March 2023, and comes after an earlier five-day walkout in mid-November.
They received pay rises totalling 22% in 2023 and 2024, and this year got an additional 5.4%.
But the British Medical Association argues that resident doctors’ pay is 20% lower in real terms than it was in 2008, even after the 2025 increase.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has condemned the latest planned strike as “cynical”, and accused the BMA union of attempting to turn medics “into the Grinch who stole Christmas”.
However, Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, argued it had “no choice” but to push for more industrial action, accusing the Government of failing to put forward “a credible plan to fix the jobs crisis for resident doctors at the same time as pushing a real terms pay cut”.
