Patients with non-urgent needs may be ‘turned away’ from A&E as NHS braces for junior doctors’ strike
UNDER PRESSURE: The emergency department at Hull Royal Infirmary
By Simon Bristow
Patients arriving at A&E with non-urgent health needs may be “invited to seek treatment elsewhere” as hospital bosses prepare for the impact of a 96-hour strike by junior doctors next week.
There are also warnings of “significantly lengthy” waits in A&E and cancelled operations.
Junior doctors account for half of all NHS doctors, and three-quarters of them in Hull – “several hundred” – took part in three days of industrial action last month.
Now members of the BMA and HCSA unions will go on strike for an extended period immediately after the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, starting at 7am on Tuesday, April 11, and ending at 7am on Saturday, April 15.
Their absence from the workforce has prompted local health chiefs to urge the public to consider carefully where to seek help, both over the weekend when many GP surgeries are closed, and during the strike.
Describing the forthcoming national period of industrial action, Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, told Sky News this morning: “We’re very worried. Deeply concerned, because this represents the biggest and most disruptive period of industrial action we’ve seen so far, given that it takes place over a four-day period.
‘STRAIN ON SERVICES’: Professor Makani Purva
“The duration is significant but the timing as well. After a four-day bank holiday when the NHS is obviously often very, very busy and the build-up of demand coming into the Tuesday, and in addition to that of course, the fact that many NHS staff will themselves be spending time with families, taking leave, after one of the toughest winters on record, they obviously need a well-deserved break.
“So that means, in practice, that the challenges of this period are significant.”
Professor Makani Purva, chief medical officer for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Hull Royal Infirmary, said: “Extended holiday periods such as Easter, when there is a four-day weekend, are always busy for our hospitals as many routine services are closed.
“This can make it more difficult for the public to access non-urgent healthcare, but it can also make it more difficult for us to discharge patients from hospital who are medically ready to leave.
“The impact of the extended bank holiday, followed by a four-day period without input from many of our junior doctor colleagues, will make the situation even more pressured.
“During the junior doctor strike from 13th to 15th March, we saw more than three-quarters of our junior doctors who were due to work – that’s several hundred staff – take part in industrial action each day.
“Allied health professionals, specialist nursing staff, advanced practitioners and consultants all stepped in to ensure essential services were maintained, but this undoubtedly put a strain on services and led to some outpatient appointments and surgical procedures being cancelled; a situation that’s set to be repeated next week.
“At a time of such high demand, we would really urge the public to look for the healthcare service which is most suited to their needs if they do need help over the bank holiday weekend and, of course, throughout the ensuing strike period.”
Patients who are due to attend hospital appointments or procedures between April 11 and 15 will be contacted if there is any need to change or reschedule their appointment. Those with appointments who do not hear from the hospital should assume it is still going ahead and attend as planned.
The trust also said: “Patients arriving at Hull Royal Infirmary’s emergency department with non-urgent health needs may be invited to seek treatment elsewhere as staff seek to juggle service demands and keep patients safe. Anyone who chooses to stay in the department is expected to face significantly lengthy waits.”
Medical advice is always available, 24hrs per day, online at 111.nhs.uk or by calling 111 free of charge.
A list of local pharmacies can be found on the NHS website, while walk-in care and treatment for minor injuries is available from the following centres across Hull and East Yorkshire, all of which are open late into the evening or round-the-clock:
Hull – Story Street walk-in centre
Bransholme – Urgent Treatment Centre within Bransholme Health Centre, Goodhart Road (open 24hrs)
Beverley – Urgent Treatment Centre within East Riding Community Hospital, Swinemoor Lane
Goole – Urgent Treatment Centre within Goole & District Hospital, Woodland Avenue
Bridlington – Urgent Treatment Centre within Bridlington Hospital (Entrance A), Bessingby Road