The public are being urged to use NHS services in the South East wisely as the British Medical Association (BMA) Consultants and British Dental Association (BDA) begin 48 hours of industrial action starting at 07:00 on Thursday (20th July).
Senior doctors, who not only see patients but are responsible for supervising junior doctors and other staff, are to take action on Thursday 20th July and Friday 21st July as the current round of junior doctors concluded this morning.
Planned and routine non-urgent care is expected to be disrupted when the consultants walk out. When consultants take strike action, they will stop delivering care directly or providing supervision of the work of junior staff. Without supervision it may not be possible for some care delivered by junior doctors or other staff to take place safely.
Consultants have committed however to provide Christmas Day cover, meaning they will continue to provide all emergency services to ensure patients remain safe.
NHS England’s South East Medical Director for System Improvement and Professional Standards, Alison Taylor, said:
“Coming off the back of the junior doctors strikes, we are expecting to see more planned care impacted with appointments and surgeries likely to be cancelled.
“During the consultants strike please take care of yourself and use NHS services wisely to make sure care is available for those patients who need it most.
“It is likely 999 and 111 call handlers will be very busy, this may mean longer call response times. As a result, we are urging anyone with non-urgent care need to first seek help from NHS 111 online and only using 999 in a life-threatening emergency.
Article continues below this advertisement “I would like to thank people for helping us during industrial action and allowing us to care for those most in need.”
If you have not been contacted, attend your appointment as planned. The NHS will contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled due to strike action. GP practices will continue to be open during the consultants strikes.
The Society of Radiographers has also announced that it will be holding 48 hours of strikes, from 08:00 on Tuesday 25th July to 08:00 on Thursday 27th July.
Find out what you need here https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/accidents-first-aid-and-treatments/what-should-i-keep-in-my-first-aid-kit
Is the NHS budgeting wisely?
Are the Tories governing wisely?
Why is the NHS doing this to us? Labour is destroying the country!
Seems everyone is going on strike! Some never heard of doing so before like radiographers?
Consultants as well, times must be bad. Surely they get paid well enough? More than junior doctors and nurses?
So when the NHS staff go on strike, are their 10% Blue Light Discount cards for shipping at Asda suspended for the same duration?? Presumably not as they’ll have more time to go shopping……
Presumably nobody claps for this???
What a joke.
I thought Doctor’s and consultants earned quite a lot of money? Most of this generation of Doctor’s and Consultant’s will have had free university education. No massive debt to have been paid off. I always think when the supporters say ” these professionals will move abroad”, let them. But do NOT ever let them return. Simple. Bigger decision that way…
no, the bone idle layabouts should be at work, instead of demanding that others be further impoverished, through taxes, just to ensure that they have it easy
Funny how management don’t go on strike, oh but then again they are on a massive salary anyway, even managers who are not really managers and just say they are. Just to squeeze as much work out of the frontline, hardworking REAL staff. The NHS is in a bad way and in a year or so the GP’s will be like the dentists, pivate only, so watch out. The hospital are breaking data protection left right and centre, patient details fully on display, its a mess. No Hope Service. Strip back management and employ more frontline.
Consultants wages between £80k – £120k per annum excluding overtime and on call allowances and the slice of the pie for private ops – they want over a quarter per cent of current salary as a pay rise.
Get real greedy lot and get back to work, before the publics sympathy runs out. Most folk would like a salary of half that much per year.