Key Summary
- NHS staff went above and beyond to get patients home for Christmas
- Services stayed running despite doctor strikes and winter pressure
- NHS teams delivered when it mattered; however, challenges still remain
NHS chief executive Sir James Mackey has lauded the employees for meeting their targets despite being short-staffed during the resident doctors’ strike.
In a letter to the health service, he said NHS staff ensured that thousands of patients were fit to go home by Christmas, despite the challenges posed by the five-day-long strike by over 19,000 doctors.
He lauded the NHS Staff for meeting the target of having less than 80 per cent hospital beds filled on Christmas day.
“I am incredibly proud of our NHS staff who worked through the festive period to help thousands of people return home from hospital during Christmas week, so they could enjoy flu-free celebrations,” Sir Jim Mackey commented.
“It is even more remarkable when you consider the efforts put in by NHS staff to not only cover for resident doctors taking part in industrial action the week before, but to maintain the number of tests and operations carried out to almost 95 percent of normal activity,” he added.
With only 78.5 per cent of hospital beds filled, this year marked 5,000 fewer patients in the hospital during Christmas.
NHS data also showed that they managed to deliver care consistently throughout the strike days (December 17 to December 22), even with around 19,120 doctors absent on each day.
NHS also answered to 87,318 calls to 111 on 27 December, the highest in two years, along with a total of 414,562 calls answered during the Christmas week.
The amber and yellow cold health alerts for England issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), is expected to continue to keep NHS under pressure.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said, “With hospital bed occupancy lower than this time last year and ambulance handover performance improving, I am deeply grateful to everyone in the NHS who has stepped up to make sure patients are getting the care they need during a difficult winter, as well as join our push to modernise and improve the service for the long term.”
He said he was willing to work with the doctors’ union to resolve the impasse over their demands.
“I’m determined to resolve the BMA resident doctor disputes this year for the sake of patients, staff and the whole NHS. My door is open - as it always has been - to the BMA. In 2026, let’s start with a clean slate and work together to improve working conditions for doctors, cut waiting lists, and build an NHS fit for the future.”
