NHS braced for further disruption during latest junior doctor strike

Consultants, and junior doctors across NHS hospitals in Greater Manchester will be striking in August, marking nine months of industrial action.

Junior doctors, who are qualified doctors in clinical training in either a hospital or general practice and make up around half of all doctors in the NHS, are planning to strike from 7am on Friday 11 August until 7am on Tuesday 15 August.

This is the fifth strike from junior doctors, meaning services have seen over 450 hours without a third of the medical workforce over the last five months - the equivalent of 19 full days.

Consultants, senior doctors who see patients and are responsible for supervising junior doctors and other staff, will be taking action from 7am on Thursday 24 August until 7am on Saturday 26 August.

Following a recent ruling by the High Court, employers can no longer use agency staff to fill in for striking workers during industrial action, which means some of the cover arrangements used during previous strikes will not be possible. However, the ruling does not apply to a hospital’s own ‘bank’ staff, and NHS Employers has provided guidance to trusts on this issue.

To date, around 778,000 hospital appointments across the NHS have been disrupted due to strikes, with over 458,000 staff shifts interrupted.

Previous action by junior doctors in the North West saw around 3,000 staff off per day due to industrial action and during the most recent industrial action by junior doctors in July, almost 12,000 hospital appointments were disrupted over five days.

As with previous periods of strike action, NHS Greater Manchester sayd it has plans in place to prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment and critical care, minimise impact on patients and maintain patient safety.

However, disruption to services will be unavoidable across both periods of industrial action.

NHS Greater Manchester is asking for the public’s support in making sure it can treat those who need urgent care, by encouraging people to only call 999 or attend A&E if someone is seriously ill or injured or if their life is at risk.

The industrial action coincides with NHS Greater Manchester’s campaign – Get To Know Where To Go (GTKWTG).

During the strike action, the NHS will still be there for those who need it and is reminding the public to continue accessing services when they need medical care.

The GTKWTG campaign is supporting the public in knowing which service will be best for their needs as well as equipping them with the knowledge to take steps to look after their own health – helping ease pressure on emergency services during days of strike action.

The GTKWTG webpage helps people understand which service is right for them based on their symptoms.

Dr Manisha Kumar, Chief Medical Officer for NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, said: “Our staff are working hard to ensure that we can continue to deliver safe care during the upcoming industrial action.

“However, services are likely to feel different for patients, and we could see longer waits when busy in emergency departments, non-urgent outpatient appointments rescheduled and treatment being postponed, though people should still attend their appointments unless they have been contacted and told not to.

“Our message remains that regardless of any strike action taking place, it is really important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases.

“To help us treat those patients who need urgent care, we are asking members of the public to support us by using the most appropriate service for their needs. NHS 111 should be your first port-of-call (unless your call relates to a child under 5), as they can give you advice on services and care.

“You can also help by checking in on vulnerable family members and neighbours and if possible, if your relative or friend is due to be discharged from hospital and needs to be collected, please do whatever you can to help bring them home as early as possible – this will help our teams to free-up a hospital bed for someone waiting to be admitted.”

North West Regional Medical Director Dr Michael Gregory added that emergency services were likely to be stretched as a result of action.

He said: “During the period of the industrial action we will continue prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care, and trauma.

“Our advice for the public continues to be the same – please use 999 in life-threatening emergencies and NHS 111 online for other health concerns. GP services and pharmacies are also available for patients and can be accessed in the usual way.

“If you haven’t been contacted or informed that your planned appointment has been postponed, please attend as normal.”

Advice ahead of the industrial action:

• Have a well-stocked first aid drawer.
• Use your local pharmacy.
• Take a note of urgent helplines.
• make sure your repeat prescriptions are ordered and collected.