King's Lynn hospital warns disruption from strikes likely to last until next week
Consultants from the BMA go on strike today, with junior doctors joining them on the picket-line tomorrow
Last updated 19th Sep 2023
With consultants and junior doctors out on strike this week, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn is warning that things won't be back to normal until next week.
Consultants from the BMA go on strike today, with junior doctors joining them on the picket-line tomorrow.
"It will take us some time to recover"
Felicity Meyer is a consultant at the West Norfolk Hospital and told us how they prepare for industrial action:
"We have daily meetings- along with multiple meetings at day- to do all our planning and to make sure that all our staff are in the right place, so we can deliver a safe service. It's also to ensure that we know which work is going ahead and which has been cancelled".
"With such a prolonged period of strike action- and with the 24 hours joint strike action- it will take us some time to recover from that.
"So, it won't be until sometime after the weekend where we are back to normal. Our elective work will go ahead as planned- but I imagine that there will be delays in the emergency departments.
"That's why some of the elective work has been put on hold"
"The thing about this particular strike is that we have got consultants and junior doctors on strike for a day. So it means all levels are on strike.
"I think it's all to do with decision-making, so if you have people on strike you don't have all of your decision-makers there. That's why some of the elective work has been put on hold."
What has the Government said?
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:
“This result is extremely disappointing and I know it will weigh heavily on the minds of their NHS colleagues and patients – both of whom are shouldering the brunt of the BMA’s relentless and now co-ordinated strike action.
“Nearly 900,000 appointments have been cancelled due to strike action and I fear the BMA’s hard-line stance and threat of indefinite action means this number will only keep rising.
“Doctors who started their hospital training this year will receive a 10.3% pay increase, with the average junior doctor set to get 8.8%.
“My door is always open to discuss how we can work together with NHS staff to improve their working lives, but this pay award is final so I urge the BMA to call an end to this callous and calculated disruption.”