Medical boss warns of high junior doctor strike disruption for East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire
Junior doctor strikes this week come at a busy time of year for the NHS.
Junior doctor strikes are expected to hit hospitals in East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire particularly hard this week as the NHS experiences one of its busiest periods on the calendar.
The six-day strike from 7am Wednesday 3 January to 7am Tuesday 9 January is the longest junior doctor strike in NHS history comes as the pay dispute between junior doctors and the government intensifies.
Chief Medical Officer for Hull, Goole and Northern Lincolnshire NHS Trusts Dr Kate Wood said: "A number of people have stored up their health problems over that period of time and are seeking health input at this stage.
"You will see our A&E departments are incredibly busy - they are always busy, but they will be busier than usual because we won't be able to see people as quickly as we will have done previously"
The BMA is demanding a 35% pay rise which it says would restore pay to 2008 levels when adjusted for inflation, which the government has said is unaffordable.
Dr Wood said "Junior doctors are finding it incredibly difficult, it is very challenging for them, they didn't come into medicine to be on strike, they came into medicine to be able to look after their patients.
"They are striking because they feel they need to do this for the doctors of the future as well as for themselves right now."
The strike will see many routine outpatient appoints pushed back as they focus staff on emergency care. This is expected to add to backlogs that have built up since the covid-19 pandemic, putting further pressure on hospital staff.
Dr Wood has asked people to consider going to their GP or pharmacy for non-urgent care to help ease the pressure on A&E departments.