Further industrial action is to be taken across health and care services in the county. The industrials action being led by the British Medical Association is due to end at 7am on Thursday, March 16 after three days of strikes.
During the strike, hospitals as well as other health and care organisations in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are working together to manage the impact on patients. Dave Briggs, Medical Director at NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, said: “We are working together to make sure that critical services continue and our priority is to keep people safe.
“I want to ask the public to please help during this challenging time by only calling 999 or attending A&E in a genuine emergency. There are other services available, including our Urgent Treatment Centres and NHS111, GPs and pharmacies, so please choose the right service for your needs.”
Dr Keith Girling, Medical Director of Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust, stated: “We’d like to thank the public for their support during the junior doctors’ industrial action so far. The actions we have put in place to ensure we can continue to care for emergency and urgent patients have been effective and we’d like to thank everyone who has helped.
“We have consultants staffing all areas 24/7, and East Midlands Ambulance Service colleagues are working very hard to treat patients at home where appropriate. However, our Emergency Department is still very busy, which means patients are sometimes waiting a long time to be seen.
"Please consider whether you really need to come to ED. If you call 111, trained colleagues can advise on the best place for you to be seen in the quickest time. Please be aware of the extra pressures under which our staff are working and be patient if our responses are slower than normal.”
The Urgent Community Response (UCR) Service has been offering support by visiting people who are waiting for an ambulance and in need of help. The team visits people who may have to go to hospital within a two hour period, and can offer support in cases where someone has had a fall, has an infection or may have a crisis due to a breakdown in care support.
To help reduce pressure on hospital staff, paramedics from East Midlands Ambulance Service have also been supporting the response in A&E. The trained professionals are helping patients get to the right part of the hospital as quickly as possible and support them whilst they are waiting.
A significant number of elective procedures and outpatient appointments have also been postponed during the strike days so staff can be redeployed to urgent and emergency care services. Dr David Selwyn, Medical Director at Sherwood Forest Hospitals, said: “We are doing all we can to keep essential urgent and emergency services running so that patients can continue to access the vital medical attention they need.
“We saw higher numbers than usual attending our Emergency Department and Urgent Treatment Centres on the first day of industrial action yesterday, which was actually our second-busiest day of 2023 so far. And while your NHS is here to see you safely throughout this industrial action, there are significantly fewer doctors to call upon – which means it could take longer for patients with less urgent concerns to be seen.
"That’s why we need the public’s help to ensure our hardworking teams can continue to focus on those patients who need our care most. Please choose the right service for your needs and continue to attend your appointments as planned, unless we contact you to rearrange.” Members of the public are asked to help during this time by only calling 999 or going to A&E departments for serious accidents and genuine emergencies.
If your relative is due to be discharged from hospital and needs to be collected, they should be collected as early as possible, as this will help free up a hospital bed for someone waiting to be admitted. If you are unsure of where to go for help call NHS 111 by calling 111 on any phone, and Urgent Treatment Centres can also treat injuries including sprains, strains, suspected fractures, bites, cuts, scalds, and other non-life-threatening conditions.
For non-urgent matters you should speak to your GP Practice or pharmacist for medical advice, and anyone who is in mental health distress should call the Mental Health Crisis Line: 0808 196 3779.
READ NEXT:
