HOSPITAL chiefs are set to cancel 65,000 appointments this week as the NHS reels from its biggest ever strike.
Cancer treatments, ops and scans are being axed as tens of thousands of nurses and ambulance staff walked out together for the first time.
At dozens of hospitals, 999 crews guaranteed attending only the most critical of jobs.
And the Royal College of Nursing is continuing industrial action today.
Strikes on four days out of five this week will cause “huge disruption” with 20,000 workers out yesterday and 15,000 nurses today.
Physiotherapists will follow on Thursday and Unison’s ambulance crews on Friday.
Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, said: “We’re planning for an incredibly disrupted week.”
Health Secretary Steve Barclay yesterday attended a Cobra meeting on the NHS.
He insisted any pay rises will be for April onwards, not backdated to last year.
RCN chief Pat Cullen said: “Rishi Sunak’s letting the country’s most beloved institution deteriorate rapidly.”
She urged him to come to the negotiating table to “halt this action”.
