The Health Secretary calls on junior doctors to end strike action and talk
Members of the British Medical Association will begin industrial action at 7 o'clock this morning in a dispute over pay
The Health Secretary says ending strike action is an 'immediate priority' as junior doctors take to the picket line today, in the longest walkout in NHS history.
Members of the British Medical Association will begin industrial action at 7 o'clock this morning, running for six days, in a dispute over pay and conditions.
It coincides with what is known as one of the busiest periods for health services.
Victoria Atkins - who's also the MP for Louth and Horncastle - tells us it's important to find a resolution:
"The NHS is genuinely one of the reasons I came into politics, the NHS is there to look after us all, it needs to be there in our moments of need, when we need help, we need treatment and if junior doctors are on strike then that makes that very difficult to deliver.
"We've seen some real tangible progress actually with both the consultants and also specialty and specialist doctors. We've managed to find fair and reasonable settlements... and I would like to do the same with junior doctors, but I need them to call the strikes off."
Victoria Atkins also detailed how disruptive this type of action can be:
"The moment those strikes were called, NHSE managers, medical directors and clinicians around the country had to divert their attention away from the usual sort of winter preparations to preparing for these strikes.
"The NHS is an enormous, enormous machine and we cannot flick it on and off with a switch. What I would like please, is for the strikes to be called off, we can get back round the table and we can get this done."
The United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust has been cancelling some non-urgent appointments and operations in advance due to the uncertainty around staffing levels, and may need to cancel some appointments at short notice during the strike period.
They say that if your appointment is cancelled, you will be contacted directly and they will be re-booked.
If you have an appointment over the next weeks and have not been contacted, it is important that you attend as usual.
The emergency departments remain open for those who need urgent and emergency care and the maternity and antenatal services will also be open.
Strike action is also affecting Trusts across Northern Lincolnshire.
Dr Kate Wood, Group Chief Medical Officer for Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust said:
“Early January is always one of the busiest times for local hospitals. It’s winter, so as you’d expect, we have lots of sick and vulnerable patients in our care, but we are also seeing the effects of viruses such as Covid-19, flu and Norovirus in circulation too, which are also common at this time of year.
“With the festive period now over, we also find that some people who have previously put off seeking help for medical problems over Christmas and New Year come forward for treatment, and our Emergency Departments often bear the brunt of this as people want immediate help or are unable to see their GP.
“With a significantly reduced number of medical staff on duty across all of our hospitals, including Scunthorpe General, Hull Royal Infirmary, Diana Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby, Goole & District, and Castle Hill Hospital, we are expecting the forthcoming strike dates to be incredibly busy.
“We’ve had to make some difficult decisions to cancel and reschedule people’s appointments so that staff who are not involved in the action can support colleagues in areas that are affected by the strike. We know how frustrating this can be, especially for those who have been waiting a long time to be seen or for their surgery, and we would like to apologise for that.
“As the strike is due to last for almost a week, one of our main areas of concern is emergency care, ensuring we maintain flow through the departments and that we’re able to continue prioritising the most seriously ill and injured. For this reason, we are asking people whose health problems are not a threat to life or limb in the coming days to seek help elsewhere in the first instance; NHS111 is often a good place to start for advice and details on nearby services. We’ll have fewer doctors on duty, so we must prioritise the sickest people, and this may mean re-directing patients who attend with routine ailments or minor complaints to a more suitable place of care.”
Figures released last month showed more than 1.2 million appointments have had to be postponed because of industrial action in the NHS since it began in December 2022.
Dr Wood continues:
“Some planned surgical activity will continue, as will some outpatient clinics, so where patients have been given an appointment between 3rd and 8th January* and have not heard from us beforehand, they should assume their appointment is still going ahead as planned. We have already contacted the majority of patients whose appointments have been affected by the action to update them and try to reschedule; again we’d like to apologise for the inconvenience.
“As ever, we are grateful to all of our colleagues who will be supporting throughout the strikes, but the fact remains that our medical staffing levels will be notably reduced so we are preparing ourselves for a difficult week ahead.”
Junior doctors are set to walk out from 7am on January 3rd until 7am on January 9th.
The strike amounts to 144 consecutive hours of industrial action - the longest in the 75-year history of the health service.
The British Medical Association (BMA) union wants junior doctors to get a 35% pay rise, which it says would restore their real earnings to 2008 levels, but the Government says this is unaffordable.