Junior doctors' industrial action 9-11 March: information for patients

Industrial action by junior doctors will take place from 8am Wednesday 9 March until 8am Friday 11 March. During this time, junior doctors will provide cover for emergencies only.

Patients who need emergency treatment will be seen and treated as quickly as possible. However, those in less urgent need of care may experience longer waiting times than normal. If you have a minor injury or illness, or you’re not sure where to go for treatment, please call NHS111 for advice.

Cancelled appointments
The majority of appointments at the hospital will go ahead. However, we have taken the decision to cancel some appointments and less urgent operations and we have sent letters by first class post to affected patients. A total of 421 appointments have been cancelled over the 48-hour period: 66 inpatient and day patient appointments (operations and procedures) and 355 outpatients appointments.

If you have a scheduled appointment or procedure planned for Wednesday or Thursday, you should assume it is going ahead as normal if you do not receive a letter from us.

If industrial action is called off:
In the event of the industrial action being called off, we will reinstate some of the cancelled appointments. Following feedback from patients, we recognise that many people would prefer to come in for their original appointment even at very short notice.

However, this isn’t going to be practical for all appointments because of the degree of preparation involved in some cases, so it’s really important that patients who receive cancellation letters follow the instructions given in their letter about what to do if the industrial action is called off.

If anyone is still unclear after reading their letter, they should contact the department or clinic direct using the number provided in their letter.

The industrial action relates to a national dispute between junior doctors and the government. The hospital's position is neutral and our overriding concern is to provide safe services to patients during any periods of industrial action.