British Medical Association (BMA) strikes from 14 June to 17 June

Strike action is being carried out for a continuous 72-hour period from Wednesday 14 June to Saturday 17 June as part of the British Medical Association’s (BMA) ongoing dispute with the Government over pay and working conditions.

Although we have been planning for this period for several weeks, as with previous industrial action by junior doctors, we expect our services to be busy throughout the strike.

Our priority is to deliver as much safe patient care as possible, and this work has meant that we are able to safely run our emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care and trauma services.

However, we will only run our services where it is safe to do so. Unfortunately, it will be necessary to cancel some planned treatments, appointments, and procedures. We apologise for the concern this will cause. We will contact all affected patients as soon as possible to arrange an alternative treatment date.

If we need to cancel your appointment, we will contact you directly. If you do not hear from us, your appointment is still planned to go ahead, and you should attend as normal. 

To help us run our services, we ask the public to use the local health service wisely. Please consider where the best place to be treated is and contact NHS 111 online in the first instance for advice and guidance.

Often, an acute hospital setting is not the best place for patients to be seen. Please consider using other options available to you – with 111, pharmacies and GP services often more appropriate places for most conditions.

In an emergency, always contact 999.

Should you attend our Emergency Department or Urgent Treatment Centre, you will be seen. However, please be patient if you do use our services, as our staff will be working extremely hard to see you as quickly as they can.

While this dispute is a matter between the Government and British Medical Association, we value all our junior doctor colleagues and know this industrial action addresses issues of real concern and we hope to see a resolution as soon as possible.

Our Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Stephen Haig, explains more below: