Industrial action by British Medical Association and Society of Radiographers between Monday 2 October and Thursday 5 October

Our services will be disrupted due to industrial action by both consultant and junior doctor members of the British Medical Association, and members of the Society of Radiographers between 7am on Monday 2 October and Thursday 5 October.

Having come at a time when our services are already very busy, this will see significant disruption to the care we provide.

Throughout this period, our urgent and emergency care services will continue to be provided but waiting times will be longer and we advise people to consider other places to receive advice or treatment, such as NHS111 online, before coming to hospital.

While we will have to cancel some planned appointments, we will cancel everyone affected and you should continue to attend the hospital if you do not hear from us.

British Medical Association Industrial Action

From 7am on Monday 2 October and lasting until 7am on Thursday 5 October, both junior doctor and consultant members of the BMA will participate in strike action. Both groups of staff will work towards levels of care similar to that provided on Christmas Day.

This is the second time in three weeks that we have managed simultaneous strike action by both junior and senior doctors. We know from previous industrial action that this will have a significant impact. However, we have been planning for this period for several weeks to ensure we can deliver safe patient care.

While our emergency and urgent care services will remain operational, this industrial action means that we will unfortunately have to cancel some planned treatments, procedures, and appointments. We are aware some patients have had their disruption on more than occasion and apologise for any concern this causes. Everyone whose appointment is affected will be contacted directly.

We continue to hope that a resolution is reached soon in this ongoing dispute between the Government and British Medical Association.

Society of Radiographers Industrial Action

Industrial action will be carried out by the Society of Radiographers for 24 hours from 8am on Tuesday 3 October.

During the strike, a limited service will be provided by our radiology team who perform imaging examinations such as x-rays and scans. This will see radiographers delivering urgent and emergency care at a service level similar to that which operates on Christmas Day.

Due to this industrial action, there may be some appointments which it is necessary to cancel on the day, while some appointments may go ahead with a requirement for patients to re-attend the hospital at a later date for a scan or x-ray. The industrial action may also delay scans for patients who are being admitted to hospital or those already staying here.

Local residents are also asked to be aware that as our team will only be seeing emergency and urgent care patients during the strike period, our walk-in x-ray service will be closed. Please do not attend to use this service during the industrial action, even if you have been referred by a GP.

While this dispute is a matter for the Society of Radiographers and the Government, we hope to see a resolution soon.