How will I access healthcare during the doctors strike?

A&E services are being centralised at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital

NHS Gloucestershire has set out changes to its services during the resident doctors strike by the British Medical Association.

It says there will be substantial disruption until Wednesday.

Chief Medical Officer at NHS Gloucestershire, Dr Ananthakrishnan Raghuram said: "The five-day strike is likely to pose significant challenges to the local NHS, particularly hospital services, and we are sorry that patients might experience disruption to services.

Resident doctors in England are planning a walkout for five consecutive days from 25 July, over a pay dispute with the government.

Will my operation go ahead?

It depends. Patients who have a planned hospital operation, outpatient clinic or procedure between Friday and Wednesday should attend as usual unless they hear from their NHS Trust to advise otherwise.

NHS Gloucestershire says to manage staffing some appointments will need to be rearranged.

There will be no disruption to patient visiting arrangements on these days.

However, the local NHS Trusts are asking relatives and carers to do everything they can to work with their staff to get their loved ones home from hospital as quickly and as safely as possible, with additional support, if necessary, from local NHS community services or adult social care teams.

Will A&E be open as usual?

Gloucestershire Royal Hospital will be the only emergency department in the county that will remain open throughout the strike. People are being told to only attend or dial 999 if the condition is life threatening or serious.

Cheltenham's emergency department will not remain open in its usual format, as it has temporarily become a Minor Injury and Illness Unit (MIIU).

Between 08:00 and 20:00 BST from now until to Tuesday, it will operate as a MIIU.

It will be closed between 20:00 each evening and 08:00 each morning, until reopening as usual on Wednesday at 08:00.

Although other community MIIU will continue to provide services, Dursleys is closed until 08:00 on Tuesday.

Will GP practices still see patients?

Yes, NHS Gloucestershire says GP practices across the county will continue to provide services. Also people can get advice on their healthcare options via 111.nhs.uk or by calling 111.

However, people have been urged to use services responsibly with the NHS 111 service likely to see an increase in calls throughout the duration of the strike.

The 111 online and the local ASAP Glos NHS website can provide information on the services provided by community pharmacies, GP surgeries, including the Gloucester Health Access Centre, Community Minor Injury and Illness Units (MIIUs) and the Emergency Department.

NHS England stated the previous round of industrial action by resident doctors at the end of June last year saw 61,989 inpatient and outpatient appointments rescheduled, and 23,001 staff were absent from work due to strikes at the peak of the action.

Since strikes began at the end of 2022, the cumulative total of hospital appointments rescheduled is now close to 1.5 million (1,486,258) across the NHS.

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