'Very concerned' NHS bosses appeal to public ahead of four-day junior doctors strike

Industrial action by members of the British Medical Association (BMA) will see hundreds of junior doctors unavailable to work from 7am on Tuesday, April 11, to 7am on Saturday, April 15, the longest single period of industrial action affecting the NHS ever.

‘Inevitable and noticeable impact’

The walk-out will follow a four-day Bank Holiday weekend during the Easter school holidays when more colleagues are likely to be on leave and unable to step in as previously.

In a statement issued through the region’s Provider Collaborative, trusts bosses said: “We are very concerned.

"Not having junior doctors available for 96 hours at such a critical time after Easter will have an inevitable and noticeable impact on the quality of care we can provide.

“Junior doctors are a vital and much valued part of the NHS workforce and to have such a big part of our teams missing is a deep worry.

"The pressure on services is already at peak with no let-up in demand.

“We will need people to support us by taking the right action if they need help and to be mindful of the disruption to services.”

Trusts say patients will likely face longer waits when arriving in urgent and emergency care settings and if they need to be admitted and are also concerned about knock-on delays to discharge processes.

How to help

The key messages are:

*If you are seriously ill or injured, or your life is at risk, you should seek emergency care in the usual way. Call 999 or attend the Emergency Department.

*If you need urgent help or advice or are unsure about whether you should go to hospital, go to NHS 111 online (www.111.nhs.uk) first or dial 111 for free from any phone. Please do not turn up to hospital without using 111 first.

*If you need urgent mental health support, you can get 24/7 access to your local crisis team via Mental Health Helpline for Urgent Help - NHS (www.nhs.uk).

*If you have an appointment between April 11 and 15, please attend as planned, unless contacted. The NHS will contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled due to strike action.

The Provider Collaborative statement says: “We are working hard to ensure patients and the public can still access the care they need, when they need it.

‘We know how committed all staff are’

"The only way we can safely do this is to reschedule planned activity so that we can keep essential emergency services going. We are very sorry to those patients who will be impacted and all Trusts will, of course, be in touch directly with you if your care is impacted.

“We want to thank all staff, including our junior doctor colleagues, who continue to make a phenomenal effort day-in and day-out to manage the ongoing safe delivery of patient care at a time of unprecedented and relentless demand on the NHS.

"We do not underestimate the toll this pressure takes on everyone and we know how committed all staff are to doing their very best for the people we look after.”