Strike information for October

The BMA has announced joint industrial action by both hospital consultants and junior doctors during October.

Consultants and junior doctors in England will be taking part in a joint strike for three days from 7am on Monday 2 October to 7am on Thursday 5 October.

Many of our doctors at Gateshead Health are taking part, our services are significantly reduced on the strike days and wait times for none-emergency care will be much longer, on the strike days and in 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. With two groups of medical staff taking industrial action at the same time we expect our services to take a while to recover, so please do bear with us as we try to reschedule your appointment.

There are some things that you can do to help us to make care 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.
Go to your local pharmacy, or contact your GP surgery if you need advice about a minor illness or injury.
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.

This is a further round of action by the BMA hospital consultants’ and junior doctors are taking joint strike action 2 October to 4 October.

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 Monday 2 October until 7am on Thursday 5 October.

Our services will 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. Please continue 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.