Patients in Blackpool should prepare for potential service disruptions as resident doctors plan to take part in a six-day strike across England, beginning at 7am on Tuesday, 7 April, and ending at 6:59am on Monday, 13 April 2026. The industrial action, organised by the British Medical Association, marks the 15th round of walkouts in an ongoing pay dispute that has now spanned four years.
The Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which serves hundreds of thousands of residents across Blackpool, Fylde, and Wyre, has advised that emergency and urgent medical care will remain available throughout the strike period. The trust is urging patients to continue to come forward for life-threatening or serious conditions. Those with existing appointments should still attend as planned unless they have been told otherwise by the hospital.
The strike follows the union’s rejection of a government proposal that offered £700 million in pay investment spread across three years. The union, which is seeking a 26 per cent pay rise to account for real-terms pay erosion since 2008-09, insists the funding should be provided in a single year. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has asked the doctors to reconsider their position by 2 April, five days before the planned walkout begins.
Health service leaders have expressed concerns regarding the impact of the upcoming action. According to the NHS Confederation, strikes typically cost the health service up to £300 million each time, with the five-day walkout in July 2025 estimated to have cost approximately £300 million. Officials have noted that such walkouts often lead to cancelled appointments and longer waiting times for routine tests, surgery, and other treatments.
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