The NHS in South Yorkshire is urging the public to be aware of disruption across many NHS services due to planned industrial strike action by medical staff.
Junior doctor members of the British Medical Association (BMA) will take five days of strike action from 07:00 Thursday 27 June to 07:00 Tuesday 2 July 2024.
Junior doctors make up around half of all doctors in the NHS. Junior doctors are qualified doctors who have anywhere up to eight years' experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
During these strikes, other doctors (including consultants and other specialist doctors) will still be working. The NHS is working hard to ensure adequate staffing through the entirety of urgent care pathways, urgent elective cases, and other critical services. However, the disruption to staffing will cause a significant reduction in elective activity and this may mean some appointments and procedures may need to be rescheduled. We will only reschedule appointments and procedures where necessary and will rebook immediately, where possible.
Jason Page NHS South Yorkshire Medical Director for Rotherham Place said: “The NHS in South Yorkshire is working hard to keep patients safe during strikes, while delivering the best care possible.
“We expect emergency and urgent care services to be extremely busy during the industrial action so our communities are encouraged to visit their pharmacy or NHS111 online where possible.
“However nobody should put off seeking only urgent or emergency care during the strikes, with key services continuing to operate. Please continue to call 999 in an emergency.
“If you have scheduled appointments during this time, please attend as planned. You will be contacted if your appointment needs to be cancelled or rescheduled.”
The NHS is asking patients to choose services appropriately during industrial action and take simple steps to help ensure care is available to patients who need it most. This includes using 111 online as the first port of call for health needs, and only using 999 if it is a serious or life-threatening emergency. For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, you can visit the NHS UK website.
GP practices will continue to be open during the junior doctors strike. Please continue to attend your GP and dental appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise.