New NHS strike action begins, with residents being urged to use services wisely.
Industrial action by both junior and consultant doctors which began this morning has prompted NHS leaders to warn of further potential disruption to local health services, with patients and the public asked to choose services wisely.
Consultants and junior doctors will provide Christmas Day levels of cover until 7:00am on Thursday 5 October.
Hospitals will again run differently during this time, as they have during previous strikes in the current dispute, with resources prioritised in order to provide urgent and emergency services, maternity services and ward based care.
This will mean that hospitals have to make the difficult decision to re-arrange many non-urgent operations, treatments and routine appointments. Where this is the case, patients will be contacted directly.
NHS leaders are urging local people to choose health and care services wisely and to take simple steps to 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 continuing to attend Emergency Departments only if it is a life-threatening emergency.
Many GP practices and pharmacies will be running as usual during the strike, but up to a quarter of local practices may be affected by the industrial action as they provide opportunities for those who are training to become GPs.
Dr Sarah Whiteman, Chief Medical Director for Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board, said: “We are encouraging local people to think carefully before using NHS services during the current industrial action.
“You should only attend an accident and emergency department if you require emergency, life-saving care. Anybody needing non-urgent care should seek help from 111 Online in the first instance at 111.nhs.uk.
“Previous strikes in the NHS this year have seen many hospital appointments postponed, and we again expect to see significant disruption, particularly as this strike involves both consultants and junior doctors.
“We expect services to be busier than usual, and there are likely to be longer waiting times, particularly at our hospitals’ Emergency Departments.”
LISTEN: NHS STRIKES AND INCREASE IN CANCELLED APPOINTMENTS IN MILTON KEYNES
Residents are also being urged to support staff as we head into the winter period.
During an exclusive interview with Darren from MKFM Drive, Joe Harrison explained that staff quite often have to cancel or move appointments which often leads to a bad response from patients.
"At the moment, there are lots of times when unfortunately the teams have to speak to patients and families about cancelling appointments and moving appointments. I can assure you that we don't come to work to mess around people on such a serious issue such as an appointment but unfortunately we do quite often get a very bad reaction from members of the public.
"If there's one thing I will ask of the Milton Keynes community over the next few months, is to try, wherever possible, to support the team here at Milton Keynes University Hospital and across the health and care system, where we are all trying our best in what can be some very difficult and very challenging circumstances.
"We will do our best and we will treat you as quickly and as well as we possibly can."
Cancellations and delays have been pinned down to the pandemic, long-standing staff shortages, strikes and other factors.
READ MORE: MILTON KEYNES RESIDENTS URGED TO SUPPORT NHS STAFF AS WE HEAD INTO BUSY WINTER PERIOD
