Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has been working alongside staff side colleagues and other healthcare partners to prepare for junior doctors industrial action next week.
A planned period of strike action by junior doctor members of the BMA and HCSA is due to begin at 7am on Monday 13th March 2023 and finish at 7am on Thursday 16th March.
Our hospitals will continue to provide emergency care throughout the strike period, so anyone with a serious illness or injury, or whose life is at risk, will still be able to access care through Hull Royal Infirmary’s Emergency Department.
However, members of the public are being advised to use community health services and NHS111 wherever possible to ensure hospital staff are able to prioritise the most seriously ill.
Professor Makani Purva, Chief Medical Officer for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says:
“Patient safety and care for our most seriously ill patients will remain our priority during the period of strike action.
“To enable us to continue providing essential services such as emergency and intensive care, we will be asking suitably skilled and experienced clinical staff such as advanced clinical practitioners and specialist nurses to support in key departments.
“Regrettably, in order to redeploy staff, this does mean we will need to reschedule some routine outpatient appointments and non-urgent procedures which were due to take place next week. We will be in touch directly with anyone affected to provide further details and we will seek to rebook those appointments as soon as possible.
“Anyone who is due to attend a clinic or hospital appointment who does not hear from us should assume their appointment is still going ahead and attend as planned.
“While essential services will be maintained, we would strongly encourage members of the public whose medical needs are not urgent to use the full range of community healthcare services available. Local pharmacies, urgent treatment centres, walk-in centres and NHS111 will all be open and able to help with a range of different illnesses and injuries. Anyone attending the Emergency Department for non-urgent medical needs during the period of industrial action should expect a significant and lengthy wait.”
Advice for the public during the upcoming period of strike action
Please take extra care at this time and look out for vulnerable family members, friends or neighbours.
Anyone with non-urgent care needs should first seek help from NHS 111 online or call 111.
If you are unwell and need assistance, you should also consider alternatives such as:
- Local pharmacies
- Your GP practice
- Story Street walk-in centre, Hull
- Local Urgent Treatment Centres (Bransholme, Beverley, Goole and Bridlington), all of which are open into the evening with the exception of Bransholme which remains open 24hrs/day.
Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is really important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases – when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.
For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, you can visit the NHS UK website.