‘Worst impact yet’: Hospital services to be hit hard by junior doctors’ strike
By Simon Bristow
Hospital services will be “severely impacted” when junior doctors begin a 120-hour strike on Thursday, managers have warned.
Members of the BMA and HCSA unions are set to begin their longest period of industrial action yet at 7am on Thursday, July 13. The strike will run across the weekend and conclude at 7am on Tuesday, July 18.
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says services at Hull Royal Infirmary, Castle Hill Hospital and Hull Women and Children’s Hospital will be badly affected, as several hundred junior doctors have the potential to walk out.
Junior doctors are qualified doctors who have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working in hospitals. Accounting for half of all doctors in the NHS, they play a key role in the day-to-day running of hospital services and specialities.
Professor Makani Purva, chief medical officer at the trust, said: “We are doing everything we can to ensure services can continue to be delivered safely throughout the upcoming strike period. However, five days of strike action by our junior doctors, closely followed by two days of action among our hospital consultants [who begin a 48-hour strike at 7am on July 20], does place a significant amount of pressure on our staff and our services, certainly more than any previous action has to date.”
The trust has committed once again to maintaining essential services such as trauma, critical care, neonatal and emergency care, but those considering using the Emergency Department during the strike are asked to do so only where there is a “genuine threat to life or limb”.
Professor Purva said: “We are reliant upon, and grateful for, the support of staff groups such as allied health professionals, advanced practitioners, specialist nursing staff and consultants stepping in to assist during the strike, but services will not be able to operate ‘business as usual’, especially over such a sustained period.
“For this reason, we would really urge members of the public to consider whether their healthcare needs can be met through community services such as urgent treatment centres, Story Street walk-in centre, local pharmacies or GP services, or with advice from NHS111 online or over the phone.
“Waits for emergency care will be lengthy, so the Emergency Department should only be used by those with a serious need, and patients could find themselves being redirected to other services where it’s appropriate to do so.
“Once again, the strike does regrettably mean we are having to rearrange some non-urgent work such as outpatient clinics and routine surgical procedures. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes and will look to reschedule all those who are affected as soon as possible.”
Patients with appointments currently scheduled to take place between July 13 and 18 are asked to attend as planned. In those cases where appointments need to be rearranged or changes made, a member of staff will be in touch with patients directly to discuss.
Medical advice is available 24 hours per day, through NHS111 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.