Wiltshire's hospitals face tough New Year amid record strike action
Junior Doctors are taking industrial action for six consecutive days
Last updated 3rd Jan 2024
NHS services in the South West, including Great Western Hospital and Salisbury District Hospital, are facing one of the toughest starts to a New Year in history amid record industrial action.
Junior doctors who are part of the British Medical Association (BMA) are walking out once again, but this time it will be the longest ever consecutive strike action in NHS history, lasting six days.
Their strike action started this morning (Wednesday 3rd January ) at 7.00am and runs until 7.00am next Tuesday (9th January), and is set to have a major impact on almost all routine care as consultants cover.
They also took three days of action before Christmas, which led to the cancellation of thousands of appointments.
The BMA has been pushing for junior doctors to get a 35% pay rise, which it says would restore their earnings after inflation to 2008 levels, but the government says this is unaffordable.
A BMA spokesperson said: "It's incredibly disappointing that we've had to call this strike - no doctor ever wants to have to take industrial action.
"We would still, at this late hour, encourage the government to put forward a credible offer so that we can stop this strike and get back to doing what we really want to do - care for patients."
They say patient safety remains a top priority and have plans in place with NHS trusts to bring doctors back to work in an emergency.
The industrial action also adds more pressure to NHS services during a winter period already stretched thanks to seasonal illnesses like covid and flu, with a spread of infection anticipated following the Christmas and New Year celebrations, where many were mixing socially.
The most recent data suggests that the number of people hospitalised with flu has jumped to an average of 942 each day last week - six times the number of the week prior.
Medical Director for NHS England in the South West, Dr Michael Marsh, said: "January is always one of the most pressured times for the NHS. Six days of industrial action on top of an already busy time will make it extremely challenging for hospitals to maintain safe services this week.
“We have to ensure that we can provide safe care for people in urgent and emergency situations, which will mean significant disruption to routine care.
“People should still use 999 in life-threatening emergencies, but for everything else people should contact NHS 111 online or by phone in the first instance. GP services and pharmacies are also available for patients and can be accessed in the normal way.
“Hospitals are contacting people directly if their appointment or operation needs to be postponed. If you have an appointment and haven’t been contacted please attend as normal.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "We urge the BMA junior doctors committee to call off their strikes and come back to the negotiating table so we can find a fair and reasonable solution, and so we can all get back to focusing on patients and their care.
"We know how distressing it is for patients who have had appointments and procedures cancelled, and we have provided £800m to ensure patients continue to receive the highest quality care this winter and ease pressure on hospitals impacted by industrial action."