Hospitals report having to reschedule 10% to 20% of clinics during two-day walkout in England.
Thousands of NHS operations and appointments have had to be cancelled because of the nurses’ strikes in England this week.
Over the two days, NHS England said 27,800 bookings had to be rescheduled, including some operations.
There were more than 30 hospital trusts affected with some saying between 10% to 20% of normal activity was lost.
And they warned the pay dispute was now hampering their ability to get through the backlog in hospital treatment.
Currently more than 7 million people – one in eight of the population – are on a waiting list for planned care, such as knee and hip operations.
During the strikes, nurses provided emergency cover but routine care was affected.
This included operations as well as outpatient appointments and check-ups.
Hospitals reported finding it most difficult to carry out surgery because of the lack of theatre nurses and staff on wards to provide post-op care.
At University College London Hospital, two-thirds of its operations and procedures were cancelled and one in seven outpatient appointments.
Overall, this meant around 20% of its planned activity for the strike days had to be rescheduled, affecting over 2,000 patients.
At Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals 13% of their planned bookings were put back.
Other places the BBC contacted reported similar levels of disruption.
‘Big knock-on effect’
Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, which represents hospital bosses, said the strike days caused “significant disruption” and were “some of the hardest” hospitals have had to cope with this winter.
She said it would have a “big knock-on effect on efforts to tackle the backlog”.
“The ramifications go well beyond the day itself. We are deeply concerned by this pile-up of demand, which will only continue with more strikes on the horizon.”
The RCN has announced two more strikes on 6 and 7 February, involving even more services.
This week’s strikes involved a quarter of hospitals, but in February close to half of hospitals will be involved.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which also represents hospitals, added his members were “increasingly concerned” about the dispute.
He said it was particularly dispiriting because in November, before the strikes had started, the NHS had finally started to make inroads in the backlog – the waiting list fell slightly for the first time since the pandemic began.
“The longer this vicious cycle continues the longer it will take for the NHS to tackle the backlog.”
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: “I’m sorry that people have had their operations cancelled. But look at the bigger picture, operations are cancelled every day of the week because there are not enough nurses.
“Nursing staff did not create this situation – it was the government’s refusal to invest in nursing and tackle the workforce crisis which has led us to where we are now.”
Currently one in eight nurse posts in the NHS in England is vacant.
The government argues it has awarded NHS staff the rise recommended by the independent NHS Pay Review Body – 4.75% on average – and meeting the demands of the RCN, which wants 5% above inflation, would hamper its attempts to get rising prices under control.