NHS patients urged to come forward for care as usual during resident doctors’ strikes

The NHS is urging patients to continue coming forward for care with thousands of resident doctors expected to go on strike.

Industrial action begins at 7am today (Friday 14 November) until 7am on Wednesday 19 November and hospital teams across the country are working round the clock to ensure disruption is minimised for patients.

Plans are in place to continue life-saving care as normal, while hospital chiefs have been told to keep routine operations going as much as possible – with 95% of elective activity aiming to go ahead with appointments only rescheduled in exceptional circumstances in the interests of patient safety.

NHS bosses are warning it comes at an already challenging time for the service with flu cases set to peak immediately after industrial action.

During the last round of strikes in July, a robust approach by the NHS to preserve services and maintain patient safety saw over 10,000 extra patients receive their care compared to the previous 5 days of industrial action in summer 2024.

The NHS maintained the vast majority of operations, tests and procedures despite the disruption, as well as dealing with urgent and emergency cases.

The public are advised to attend any planned appointments scheduled during the strikes unless they have been contacted to reschedule.

Primary and urgent and emergency care services will continue to be available for those who need them. The public should use 111 online as the first port of call for urgent but not life-threatening issues during industrial action so that they can be directed to the best place for their needs.

Patients who need emergency medical care should continue to use 999 or come forward to A&E as normal.

Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England National Medical Director, said: “It is frustrating and disappointing that we are facing another round of industrial action at a challenging time for the NHS, with flu cases rising earlier than usual and more staff likely to be absent due to illness.

“Despite this, staff across the NHS are working extremely hard to maintain care and limit disruption.

“The public should continue to come forward for their appointments over the next few days unless they are contacted by the NHS and told otherwise.

“Inevitably some appointments won’t be able to go ahead as planned but we are doing everything possible to keep this to a minimum – and the last round of industrial action showed that, thanks to a strong collective effort, we were able to keep the vast majority of services going for patients.

“In an emergency the public should still dial 999, and otherwise use 111 online, your local pharmacist or GP”.

Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said: “As we enter this needless round of strike action, patients should feel reassured that the NHS is more resilient than ever in minimising disruption. During the last round, we reduced cancellations by 11,000 compared to previous strikes and limited costs by millions. The NHS is aiming to keep 95% of planned care going to reduce the impact on patients.

“Make no mistake, this requires a herculean effort from the entire breadth of staff across the NHS. I cannot thank them enough for all their work throughout the next 5 days to keep the show on the road, showing the meaning of public service.

“But there is no doubt that strikes will cause some disruption for patients and the NHS staff left picking up the pieces. The fault for that lies squarely with the BMA, who refused to put the government’s offer to its members. The BMA could have secured more jobs and cut professional costs for resident doctors on top of the 28.9% pay rise they have already had thanks to this government, but they rejected it out of hand.

“I urge resident doctors not to follow the BMA out on strike, come to work to give your patients the care they need, and let’s continue rebuilding our NHS”.

This latest action will be the 13th round of strikes from resident doctors since March 2023, resulting in 54 days of disruption to NHS services.

Resident doctors, previously named junior doctors, make up around half of all doctors in the NHS and have anywhere up to 8 years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to 3 years in general practice.