Hospital to lose A&E services during strike

Cheltenham General Hospital's A&E will be used as a minor injuries unit

A hospital will lose its A&E services for almost a week while junior doctors strike.

The department at Cheltenham General Hospital will instead be used as a minor injuries unit between Wednesday and 08:00 BST on Tuesday.

Emergency services will be centralised at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital during this time, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said.

It is hoped the changes will enable NHS services to prepare for the industrial action and allow emergency care staff to convene in Gloucester "to keep services safe", the trust added.

The minor injuries unit will be open from 08:00 to 20:00 while the changes are in place. The department will be closed overnight.

Patients who have a planned operation, outpatient clinic or procedure between Thursday and Tuesday have been advised to attend the hospital as usual, unless they have been advised otherwise by their NHS trust.

'Significant challenges'

However, some appointments will need rearranging to "ensure safe staffing requirements", the trust said.

Dr Ananthakrishnan Raghuram (Raghu), chief medical officer at NHS Gloucestershire, said: “The five-day strike will pose significant challenges to the local NHS, particularly hospital services, and we are sorry that patients might experience disruption to services.

"One Gloucestershire health and care partners are working closely together to ensure those in greatest need continue to have access to high quality care and support."

There will be no disruption to patient visiting arrangements, the trust said.