NHS disruption expected during longest period of joint strike action
Surrey’s NHS warns of disruption as it prepares for longest period of joint strike action yet
The Joint Chief Medical Officer for Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership – which brings together NHS organisations and wider partners across Surrey – is warning of further disruption to some services next week as a result of the longest joint strike action in the health service’s history, which will see consecutive strike action by four different unions, involving six areas of the NHS workforce.
Junior doctors and consultants who are part of the British Medical Association (BMA) are due to take part in joint industrial action from 7am on Monday (2 October) until 7am on Thursday (5 October) as part of the first ever 72 hour joint strike involving both professions.
They will be joined by consultants from the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) and consultants and hospital dental trainees from the British Dental Association, who will be striking over the same 72 hour period.
This latest period of action will be exacerbated further by a 24 hour strike involving The Society of Radiographers from 8am on Tuesday 3 October to 8am on Wednesday 4 October, which will affect radiography services at the Royal Surrey, Milford, Haslemere (including the Minor Injuries Unit) and Cranleigh Village Hospitals.
During this time no walk-in appointments for x-ray will be accepted and a limited radiographer service will be provided in the Royal Surrey Emergency Department for urgent and life-threatening conditions only.
Health leaders are warning of disruption to some services and encouraging people to still come forward if they need urgent medical help during the strike period.
Professor Andy Rhodes, Joint Chief Medical Officer for Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership explains:
We have well-rehearsed plans in place to manage periods of planned industrial action and, working together across health and care organisations, we will continue to prioritise critical services – but due to the scale of the impact, and multiple strikes happening at the same time, unfortunately many appointments and planned operations will have to be rescheduled.
During the last period of strike action in September, over the four day period, we rescheduled over 230 planned inpatient appointments and procedures and over 1,700 outpatients appointments – so we are seeing a significant impact each time.
If people need to access health advice and treatment during this period of planned industrial action we are encouraging them to still come forward – and to use services responsibly and appropriately:
- People should continue to use 111 online as the first port of call for urgent health advice or call 111 24/7 if people don’t have access to the internet.
- People should only use 999 and A&E for serious or life-threatening conditions or medical emergencies (when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk).
- If people’s appointments or procedures have been affected by industrial action the local NHS will contact people directly to reschedule them as soon as possible. If people haven’t been contacted, they should attend appointments as usual.
Professor Rhodes added:
As a health and care system, we fully support our junior doctors and consultants working across Surrey Heartlands, whether they choose to participate in industrial action or not, but we know this strike action will put more pressure on frontline services, and our staff, who are already working incredibly hard.
We are again asking members of the public for their support in using services responsibly and appropriately and helping us keep A&E and 999 for those who need them most.
We are also asking people to be patient, particularly if services are busier and waits are longer than usual, as our frontline teams prioritise critical services and work hard to make sure people get the care they need.
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