Related Articles
People are being urged to avoid Hull Royal Infirmary’s emergency department over the next few days as junior doctors go out on strike.
Some routine operations and non-urgent appointments are also having to be rearranged as the Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust takes action to mitigate against the loss of staff for 72 hours.
The strikes centre on a pay row between the British Medical Association and Government, with the union claiming junior doctors in England have seen a 26 per cent real-terms pay cut since 2008/09 because pay rises have been below inflation.
Read more: Why are junior doctors striking and how will the NHS cope?
The union has asked for a full pay restoration that the Government said would amount to a 35% rise – which ministers have said is unaffordable. Members of the BMA and HCSA unions will go on strike from 7am on Wednesday until 7am on Saturday. Junior doctors are those qualified who have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working in hospitals.
Junior doctors account for half of all doctors in the NHS and they play a key role in the day-to-day running of hospital services and specialties. Professor Makani Purva, Chief Medical Officer for the trust – which runs Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital – said: “The junior doctors’ action will add more pressure to already busy hospital services, including our Emergency Department, so we’d really urge the public to choose wisely and use the healthcare service most suited to their needs if they require medical help over the strike period.”
Patients with appointments scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday are asked to attend as planned. In those cases where appointments need to be rearranged or changes made, a member of staff will be in touch with patients directly.
Professor Purva said: “During the junior doctor strikes of March and April, around four in every five of our junior doctors who were due to work – that’s several hundred staff – took part in industrial action each day. Planning has been underway for some time to mitigate the impact of next week’s industrial action, but inevitably the loss of several hundred members of our workforce over several days will have a knock-on effect for both our patients and our services.
“Allied health professionals, specialist nursing staff, advanced practitioners and consultants will once again be stepping in to provide cover and ensure essential services are maintained, but regrettably this does mean some routine, non-urgent work will need to be rearranged.”
Patients arriving at Hull Royal Infirmary’s emergency department with non-urgent health needs during the strike period may be invited to seek treatment elsewhere as staff seek to juggle service demands and keep patients safe. Anyone who chooses to stay in the department is expected to face significantly lengthy waits.
Medical advice is always available, 24hrs per day, through NHS111 online at 111.nhs.uk or by calling 111, free of charge. Walk-in care and treatment for minor injuries is available from the following centres across Hull and East Yorkshire, all of which are open late into the evening or round-the-clock:
- Hull – Story Street walk-in centre
- Bransholme – Urgent Treatment Centre within Bransholme Health Centre, Goodhart Road (open 24hrs)
- Beverley – Urgent Treatment Centre within East Riding Community Hospital, Swinemoor Lane
- Goole – Urgent Treatment Centre within Goole & District Hospital, Woodland Avenue
- Bridlington – Urgent Treatment Centre within Bridlington Hospital (Entrance A), Bessingby Road
Read next:
