Ahead of three more days of strike action by junior doctors, NHS bosses in the North East have said "robust plans are in place" to keep patients safe, but warned the public that some procedures may need to be postponed.
Junior doctors who are part of the British Medical Association (BMA) will go on strike from 7am on Wednesday morning to 7am on Saturday June 17. As previously during the long-running dispute over pay which junior doctors say has fallen 26% since 2008, the region's NHS trusts will see consultants provide cover - but services are expected to be disrupted. However, anyone with an appointment this week should attend as usual unless they are contacted first by the NHS.
Dr Neil O'Brien executive medical director at the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board said: "Robust plans are in place right across our region to ensure a good and safe level of care is provided to those patients who need help during this time, with emergency and urgent care services being prioritised.
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"It's likely some appointments and treatments will need to be postponed; these will be rearranged as a priority. However, patients should assume their scheduled appointment or treatment will take place unless they have heard otherwise, there is no need to contact the NHS."
Dr O'Brien highlighted that GPs and local pharmacies would still be open and added: "Junior doctors are highly valued members of the NHS, providing skilled support to frontline services. Teams have worked hard to plan for this industrial action using learning from previous industrial action that has affected the NHS, I'd like to thank everyone involved for their input to keep patients safe during this time."
Dr Shaz Wahid, medical director at the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust shared similar advice, highlighting how the trust's : “We know that any disruption to patient care is frustrating and we have been working hard to minimise the impact of this. Our essential services will be running as usual, but we do need to rearrange some non-urgent, routine appointments. Patients with planned appointments should attend as normal unless they are contacted directly by the Trust.
“We need local people in South Tyneside and Sunderland to be aware of the huge pressures that the NHS will be under this week, even more so than normal.
Our services will be very busy, so please support us and think of using your local pharmacy and NHS 111 if you need urgent help or advice. We also ask everyone to be kind to our staff who continue to work under significant pressure.”
NHS leaders emphasised that it was vital to ensure calling 999 or going to A&E was only for emergencies - and that the NHS 111 online service and the 111 phone line were available for non-urgent healthcare advice. Self-care advice is available on-line from the NHS at nhs.uk.
Anyone needing urgent mental health support should continue to seek it via their local Crisis Team. People can put their postcode in here to find their local Crisis line.
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