The NHS is facing another significant round of industrial action
by resident doctors this week, with thousands expected to walk
out from 7am on Friday 25 July until 7am on Wednesday 30 July.
Hospitals and local teams have been preparing as usual ahead of
this latest round of strikes and have plans in place to minimise
disruption to patient care and ensure life-saving care continues.
This will be the twelfth strike from resident doctors since March
2023, resulting in 49 days of disruption to NHS services –
equivalent to almost ten working weeks of industrial action over
this period.
NHS England has asked hospital chief executives to keep routine
operations going to the fullest extent possible during this round
of strikes and only reschedule appointments and other activity in
exceptional circumstances to safeguard patient safety.
The NHS is therefore advising the public to continue to attend
any planned appointments they have scheduled over the strike
period unless they have been contacted to reschedule.
Primary and urgent and emergency care services will continue to
be available for those who need them. The public should use 111
online as the first port of call for urgent but not
life-threatening issues during industrial action so that they can
be directed to the best place for their needs. Patients who need
emergency medical care should continue to use 999 or come forward
to A&E as normal.
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England National Medical
Director, said:
“There is no doubt this industrial action will take a toll on
patients and NHS staff, and it is disappointing it is going
ahead.
“While it will mean some appointments won't be able to go ahead
as planned, we are doing all we can to limit this, and patients
should continue to use NHS services in the usual way.
“The public should dial 999 in an emergency, and otherwise use
111 online, your local pharmacist or GP, and patients should
attend NHS appointments unless told otherwise.”
The previous round of industrial action by resident doctors at
the end of June last year saw 61,989 inpatient and outpatient
appointments rescheduled, and 23,001 staff were absent from work
due to strikes at the peak of the action.
Since strikes began at the end of 2022, the cumulative total of
hospital appointments rescheduled is now close to 1.5 million
(1,486,258) across the NHS.
Resident doctors, previously named junior doctors, make up around
half of all doctors in the NHS and have anywhere up to eight
years' experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on
their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
