NHS hospital trusts declare critical incident warning only come if its 'vital'
Three major hospital trusts have declared critical incidents as junior doctors walk out on a six-day strike.
Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre declared the incident on Wednesday as it experienced major staff shortages due to the industrial action being held by members of the British Medical Association (BMA). NHS bosses in the city said the QMC and nearby hospitals in the wider county faced "extreme pressure" with patients facing long delays for treatment.
Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) and Lewisham & Greenwich Trust have also declared critical incidents to "protect patient safety", as the hospital and Emergency Department is full. Bosses have urged people not to come to A&E unless they have a life-threatening illness or injury that cannot be treated elsewhere. Pressure on hospital services and delays for patients resulted from a "combination of delays across our system and an increase in demand for services", a statement said.
BMA members started the walkout at 7am on Wednesday as the union fights for pay restoration over years of junior doctors being given real-terms pay cuts amidst inflation. The latest strike - thought to be the longest in NHS history - is set to last six days until Tuesday morning at 7am. Junior doctors' pay has been effectively cut by more than a quarter since 2008.
Junior doctors are currently on a six-day strike - the longest in NHS history (SWNS)The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board declared the critical incident at 4.30pm. It joins several other hospital trusts across the country, including those running hospitals in Leeds, Portsmouth, Lewisham and Bolton, declaring either critical incidents or similar severe pressures.
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Dr Dave Briggs, Medical Director at NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, said: “Please only attend the Emergency Department if it is vital, this means a life-threatening illness or injury that cannot be treated elsewhere, this allows us to treat those who need us the most. There are things everyone can do to help, and we are asking people to use our services wisely and to think about self-care as an option for some conditions, such as coughs and colds, before automatically going to the NHS for help.
“If self-care isn’t an option, then choosing the right service will help patients to get the right treatment first time and usually more quickly – 111 online is a great resource to help with that. One way the public can help us is by supporting our NHS teams to get your relatives home from hospital if they are medically fit to leave. We are grateful to everyone who has taken steps to help, and we would like to thank our incredible teams across the health and social care sector for their efforts in keeping the public safe.”
Last summer, the Government gave junior doctors in England an average rise of 8.8%, but medics said the increase was not enough and ramped up strike efforts. It comes as a survey revealed nearly two thirds of Brits (62%) reported being in support. A survey of 1,500 adults found that an overwhelming 84% feel it is crucial that the government acts now to resolve pay disputes with unions – as 63% believe NHS staff have been unfairly neglected for the last decade.
The BMA said that such requests should come as a “last resort”, with a letter to NHS boss Amanda Pritchard expressing "astonishment" that some Trust bosses had “refused to evidence any efforts to source alternative staffing”, accusing them of "undermining" strike action.
Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairman of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, told the PA news agency: “I hope they (the Government) come back to the table now, but from all of the signals they are sending it won’t be until our strike action finishes. And I hope at that point we can come to a resolution.”
Of the 1,219,422 acute inpatient and outpatient appointment cancellations since the current period of strikes began, more than three-quarters (77%) have been on days where junior doctors have taken industrial action either by themselves or with other groups.
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