The NHS is urging patients to continue coming forward for care
with thousands of resident doctors expected to go on strike.
Industrial action begins at 7am today (Friday 14 November) until
7am on Wednesday 19 November and hospital teams across the
country are working round the clock to ensure disruption is
minimised for patients.
Plans are in place to continue life-saving care as normal, while
hospital chiefs have been told to keep routine operations going
as much as possible – with 95% of elective activity aiming to go
ahead with appointments only rescheduled in exceptional
circumstances in the interests of patient safety.
NHS bosses are warning it comes at an already challenging time
for the service with flu cases set to peak immediately after
industrial action.
During the last round of strikes in July, a robust approach by
the NHS to preserve services and maintain patient safety saw over
10,000 extra patients receive their care compared to the previous
five days of industrial action in summer 2024.
The NHS maintained the vast majority of operations, tests and
procedures despite the disruption, as well as dealing with urgent
and emergency cases.
The public are advised to attend any planned appointments
scheduled during the strikes 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:
“It is frustrating and disappointing that we are facing another
round of industrial action at a challenging time for the NHS,
with flu cases rising earlier than usual and more staff likely to
be absent due to illness.
“Despite this, staff across the NHS are working extremely hard to
maintain care and limit disruption.
“The public should continue to come forward for their
appointments over the next few days unless they are contacted by
the NHS and told otherwise.
“Inevitably some appointments won't be able to go ahead as
planned but we are doing everything possible to keep this to a
minimum – and the last round of industrial action showed that,
thanks to a strong collective effort, we were able to keep the
vast majority of services going for patients.
“In an emergency the public should still dial 999, and otherwise
use 111 online, your local pharmacist or GP.”
This latest action will be the 13th round of strikes from
resident doctors since March 2023, resulting in 54 days of
disruption to NHS services.
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
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