North East and Teesside junior doctors strike in dispute over pay
They're walking out for the next five days
Junior doctors at hospitals are walking out from today in its long-running dispute over pay.
Members of the British Medical Association will be taking its 11th-round of strike action across the country for the next five days, between 7am today (Thursday 27th June) and 7am on Tuesday 2nd July.
Dr. George Rae, a member of the North East regional medical committee, said: "But to be honest, years of devaluing doctors' professional expertise along with the rising demand and the dwindling resources which have gone into the National Health Service, it's driving too many colleagues to leave even indeed the United Kingdom.
"I honestly think that if politicians value doctors, it's now the time to prove it. Politicians have had over a year's notice about what's happening with junior doctors and there's been plenty of time to put a credible offer on the table.
"Any future Government of any political party will know that to sort waiting lists, they need to immediately end the on-going industrial action of junior doctors and invest urgently in restoring the National Health Service to be fit for purpose.
"I don't think there's any doubt that there'll be some disruption over the next five days as far as appointments, procedures, operations and so forth which have been planned. I think most people realise that they'll have to be cancelled.
"Safety is paramount and that is why there's been plenty of notice given to hospitals, to hospital trusts right across England so that they can plan ahead. They know what's going to happen, they know when it's going to happen. If something really significant happened then junior doctors would go back."
Dr Neil O’Brien, chief medical officer at North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), said: “The strike action will inevitably cause some disruption, but we have detailed plans in place to make sure services run safely, and we’re asking everyone in the region to do their bit.
"Urgent and emergency services will still be open for people who really need them, and if you're seriously unwell it’s important that you get help. For anything else, please contact NHS 111, your GP practice, an urgent treatment centre or a community pharmacy. All these services will be open as usual during the industrial action."
Junior doctors make up around half of the doctors in the NHS. They are qualified doctors who have up to eight years’ experience as a hospital doctor, or up to three years in general practice.
Dr Sean Fenwick, deputy chief executive at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, is co-chair of the region’s Urgent and Emergency Care Board.
He said: “Once again, we will prioritise emergency and urgent care, and we ask people to only attend emergency departments if they have a life-threatening injury or illness. Patients who attend with minor problems should expect a long wait and may be asked to use a different service.
"Some appointments will need to be rescheduled, but you should attend as planned unless you hear otherwise. There's no need to check, as your hospital will contact you if your care needs to be postponed."
Ken Bremner MBE is chair of the region’s Provider Collaborative and chief executive of South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust. He said: “All our hospital trusts are working hard to ensure we have appropriate staffing in place during the strike. Our thanks go to all our teams who we know will be working incredibly hard to ensure patients get the care they need.
“The public can really help by using NHS services carefully. Emergency departments should only ever be for serious or life-threatening problems. For everything else, there are lots of other NHS services you can use.”
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "Patient safety is our number one priority so we will be adjusting our services and the way we staff them to make sure quality of care is not compromised.
On the days of strikes, we will prioritise emergency treatment and patients seeking urgent treatment will be seen. Unfortunately this means we may have to reschedule some routine appointments and procedures and we will be contacting patients directly to let them know.
We appreciate that this will be frustrating, however, it is essential that we reschedule to allow emergency care to continue to be available. All appointments will be re-arranged as a priority."
Key NHS services
- NHS 111 online which includes a symptom checker and will re-direct you to a health professional if you need medical attention.
- Telephone 111.
- Self-care advice is available online from the NHS at www.nhs.uk.
- Details of local pharmacy services are available at www.nhs.uk.
- Families can also download the Healthier Together app for advice on common childhood illnesses and when to get medical help. Healthier Together is available from the App Store and Google Play.
Anyone needing urgent mental health support can get help by calling 111 and choosing option 2.