‘Attend your appointments but stay away if it’s not urgent’: Patient advice ahead of junior doctors’ strike
UNDER PRESSURE: Hull Royal Infirmary
By Simon Bristow
Hospital patients are being asked to attend pre-booked appointments unless they have been told otherwise when the latest strike by junior doctors starts on Wednesday.
But people with non-urgent medical needs are being asked to access community services for help due to “significantly lengthy waits” expected in the A&E department at Hull Royal Infirmary, hospital chiefs have said.
Junior doctors from the British Medical Association and HCSA unions are due to begin a 72-hour stoppage at 7am on Wednesday, June 14, which will last until 7am on Saturday, June 17.
Junior doctors are qualified doctors who have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working in hospitals. They account for half of all doctors in the NHS, and play a key role in the day-to-day running of hospital services and specialties.
Professor Makani Purva, Chief Medical Officer for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust – which runs Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham – said: “During the junior doctor strikes of March and April, around four in every five of our junior doctors who were due to work – that’s several hundred staff – took part in industrial action each day.
“Planning has been underway for some time to mitigate the impact of next week’s industrial action, but inevitably the loss of several hundred members of our workforce over several days will have a knock-on effect for both our patients and our services.
“Allied health professionals, specialist nursing staff, advanced practitioners and consultants will once again be stepping in to provide cover and ensure essential services are maintained, but regrettably this does mean some routine, non-urgent work will need to be rearranged.”
Patients with appointments scheduled to take place on either June 14, 15 or 16 June are asked to attend as planned. In those cases where appointments need to be rearranged or changes made, a member of staff will contact patients directly to discuss.
Professor Purva said: “The junior doctors’ action will add more pressure to already busy hospital services, including our Emergency Department, so we’d really urge the public to choose wisely and use the healthcare service most suited to their needs if they require medical help over the strike period.”
Patients arriving at Hull Royal Infirmary’s emergency department with non-urgent health needs during the strike period 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”, the trust said.
Medical advice is always available, 24 hours a 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 in Bransholme Health Centre, Goodhart Road (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