Junior doctors industrial action taking place from 14 to 17 June

The BMA has announced its junior doctors in England will be taking part in a further wave of industrial action with a full three day (72-hour) walkout in June.

Strike action will continue day and night from 7am on Wednesday 14 June until 7am on Saturday 17 June. Many of our doctors at Gateshead Health are taking part, we expect our services to be severely impacted on the strike days and the days following.

On these days to ensure patient safety we need to prioritise emergency and urgent treatment. Please only come to accident and emergency if you, or someone you are with is seriously unwell or injured.

Unfortunately we will have to reschedule some appointments. We will contact the patients affected directly to let them know. We know that this will be frustrating, but it is essential to allow emergency care to continue to be available. All appointments will be re-arranged as soon as possible, this could however mean a wait of some weeks.

There are some things that you can do to help us to make sure that care is available for the most seriously unwell or injured. These are:

Only call 999 or go to accident and emergency if you are seriously ill or injured, or your life is at risk.
If you need urgent medical help or advice, go to NHS 111 online first. If you do not have internet access then dial 111 for free from any phone. Please do not turn up to hospital without using 111 first, unless it is an emergency.
If you need urgent mental health support, you can get 24/7 access to your local crisis team. Find the details from the NHS urgent mental health helpline.

Thank you for your patience and understanding over this period.

Frequently asked questions

Trade unions representing NHS staff are in dispute with the Government over pay and conditions. A number of unions are balloting their NHS members to take part in industrial action. Junior doctors in Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust will take strike action from 7am on Wednesday 14 June until 7am on Saturday 17 June.

On all of these days, our key focus will be on providing safe care for patients who need urgent and emergency services, and those receiving inpatient care in our hospitals.

We may have to postpone your scheduled appointment or procedure. If it needs to be postponed, then we will contact you directly. If we have not contacted you, please attend your appointment as normal.

Please be patient with us whilst we work to get our services back to normal – we will be in touch with you to reschedule, but it may take some time.

If your appointment has been postponed and you were due to come into hospital using patient transport ambulance services, please let them know.

Our accident and emergency department will be open throughout the strike period and emergency care will continue to be available across all parts of the country.

It is really important that in emergency and life-threatening cases – when someone is seriously ill or their life is at risk – patients continue to come forward as normal.

As always, we encourage people to think about which is the most appropriate service for your needs. There are a range of options to help you, such as your local pharmacy, the NHS 111 service or your GP.

All time-critical maternity services and emergency maternity care will continue during the strike.

Some routine appointments and procedures will need to be postponed. We will contact you directly if you are affected.

GP services will be running on strike days. Please continue to attend scheduled GP appointments.

No. We will contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled due to strike action.

The industrial action will last from 7am on Wednesday 14 June until 7am on Saturday 17 June. Our services may be impacted for a few days after the strike dates as we try to catch up on treatments. We will contact you if your appointment or procedure needs to be rescheduled.